The 2009 preseason baseball rankings are out and the top two picks are no surprise. The biggest movers and shakers in the offseason are expected to dominate the season and head towards glory in the postseason. Though it is not exactly the same as school baseball preseason rankings have a science all of their own.
The near unanimous winner in the preseason baseball rankings are the Boston Red Sox. They had a tough year in 2008 with plenty of injuries and a few newcomers that did not quite contribute. They still propelled themselves to second in the American League and with decent years from pitchers Josh Beckett, Dice K, and new acquisitions Brad Penny and close Takashi Saito they will stingy with runs. On the other side of the plate, they need Mike Lowell and David Ortiz to return to their career averages in order to keep their base runners advancing.
The big spenders in the offseason, as always, were the New York Yankees and the preseason baseball rankings reward this cash outlay with a number two power ranking to start the season. The Yanks grabbed the two biggest free agents when they landed pitcher CC Sabathia to work alongside AJ Burnett and added high-quality first baseman Mark Teixeira at bat. The one knock against them is their star Alex Rodriguez, who begins the season on the injured reserve list.
The third team is not much of a surprise either when you consider that the Tampa Bay Devil Rays went to the World Series in 2008. It is even less surprising when you add that they brought back all of their young stars, an inexpensive payroll and several players who will only being playing their first full season this year. The highlight of the crew is Evan Longoria, whose hitting should only get better this year. They also added some depth at batting, picking up Pat Burrell for either outfield or to come in as a designated hitter.
Here are the rest of the teams that fill out the preseason baseball rankings for 2009:
Los Angeles Angels
The Angels lost two stars but fought back and landed Brian Fuentes and some power with Bobby Abreu.
Philadelphia Phillies
The World Champions do not get a lot of love, ending up as fifth in the rankings largely because of their old pitching staff, which features the oldest player in the league, but they still have Brad Lidge and added a bat in Raul Ibanez.
Los Angeles Dodgers
Luckily the on-again, off-again Manny Ramirez offseason courtship ended with Manny staying with the Dodgers. His bat should give LA the much-needed run support it lacked through most of last season. Also they have a few emerging pitchers.
Chicago Cubs
The Cubbies have the talent and with Lou Pinella as their skipper they have the leadership but can they translate this finally into a deep postseason. Perhaps.
New York Mets
Francisco Rodriguez and J.J. Putz were acquired in order to give support to iron man Johan Santana on the mound. The rest of the team will have to come along this time.
Atlanta Braves
They know that Chipper Jones will be hitting in Atlanta but after letting Braves perennial John Smoltz go the question is whether expensive Derek Lowe can be their ace consistently.
St. Louis Cardinals
The Cards took 2008 off and look for them to return this season with Isringhausen back at the mound and that offensive healthy.
Keep it locked at Electro-Mech for all the latest in baseball news, trends, lates and greats, because we’re more than just an electronic scoreboards light up as our favorite players rack in the points.
The preseason voting, like the All Star voting, is always surprising every year. We all know it’s a popularity contest in a way, but that’s not a slam on the voters. Sports popularity is a funny thing. You can be popular and be a less than superior performer, like Manny. At the same time you can be a standout player and get no attention because you’ve got the “working man” ethic like most players who pass through the majors. I still like the idea, and I watch the All Star game every year without fail.