The Blue Workhorse

Earlier this year, we individually previewed each and every MLB team giving you a team’s record from the 2007 season, key additions and key losses in ‘08, projected starting lineups and pitching rotations, an overall outlook, fantasy impact players, and our prediction for this season.

So were we right?

Well, we got some things right like predicting Josh Hamilton’s huge season, but we also got some things way off like saying the Florida Marlins would be the laughing stock of the league.

What did we get right? What did we get wrong? This week we’ll start in the National League with the NL East:

Mets, Phils, or Braves: NL East Preview (March 6, 2008)

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Most of this comes from a comment I made when Sports Dawg wrote on An Opinion On Sports about expanding the All-Star rosters after Clint Hurdle and Terry Francona nearly had to use David Wright and J.D. Drew as pitchers due to a limited number of innings available from the All-Star pitchers.

Sports Dawg isn’t the only one to make the suggestion as I’ve heard a lot of people talk about expanding the rosters because “now the game counts.”

However, I have to respectfully disagree.

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Every season there are a handful of players that come out of no where to surprise us and become instant stars. We touched on some players who jumped out to incredible starts after the first couple of weeks of the baseball season.

However, there are also a handful of players that play no where near what was expected of them. At the midway point of the season and in lieu of the recent trend of teams demoting established players (Phillies’ starter Brett Myers, Indians’ closer Joe Borowski, and young Braves’ slugger Jeff Francouer — even though Francouer has scored 40 runs, hit 8 HR, and driven in 41 RBI), we examine those players who have failed to meet expectations and would be well deserving of a demotion:

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Earlier today, Major League Baseball announced the rosters for the 79th All-Star Game being held at Yankee Stadium, which is only appropriate since this is the final season for the historic ballpark.

The starters were determined solely by the fan vote once again, unfortunately.

Nevertheless, we wanted to do what we hadn’t seen anywhere else and break down the selections team-by-team, so that you could easily see who was selected from your favorite team (starters are in bold):

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In honor of Independence Day, our selection for this week is a product Major League Baseball showcased the entire holiday weekend.

You may have noticed or even thrown back when flipping to Sportcenter to see teams such as the Oakland A’s or Houston Astros sporting blue baseball caps even though they have no blue in their team colors. What you were seeing was Major League Baseball’s attempt to honor our country.

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While #2 overall fantasy player Hanley Ramirez’s statistics are impressive, no one is that surprised after he was a top 5 pick in nearly every fantasy draft, but when Nate McLouth puts up similar numbers and is ranked as the #7 fantasy player overall…eyebrows are raised.

The McLouths and Cliff Lees of baseball is exactly what this list celebrates - the players who produce tremendous statistics considering the value they cost their fantasy owners, whether that be a late round pick or a timely pick up off the waiver wire:

The 2008 Major League Baseball season has started with a bang, and many players have came out of nowhere to post spectacular numbers over the first two weeks. However, all fantasy baseball players need to realize the season is a marathon, not a sprint, and it is far to early to give up on a player who starts slow, especially if they are an established major league player. However, here are some names that have caught the eye over the first two weeks:

Johnny Cueto (SP CIN) – Yes, Johnny Cueto sounds more like a character in a John Wayne movie, but the Reds’ young pitcher has dazzled big league hitters over his first two starts. The Dominican import began the season with a bang with a 7 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 10K performance over Arizona, but I was more anxious to see how Cueto would rebound against Milwaukee’s powerful lineup. All Cueto did was throw 6.1 innings, gave up 5 hits, had 0 walks and 8 strikeouts. His season line thus far: 13.1 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 18 K, and a WHIP of 0.45.

For the past two seasons, there have been concerns about a couple of the most known and dominant closers in the game. Last season, it was New York Yankees’ stopper Mariano Rivera after he got off to a rough start. This season the troubles are in the other league, on the other coast as Trevor Hoffman, the man who enters to “Hell’s Bells,” has left without the lead, or a save, already twice in the early stages this season.

After week one of the MLB season, there have been several teams, including the Padres, that have already run into bullpen issues, particularly on Opening Day, so we decided to examine each of the 30 major league teams bullpen performances thus far and see which teams should really be concerned with their bullpen.