MLB Power Rankings: May 6th, 2012

1. Rangers
2. Nationals
3. Cardinals
4. Rays
5. Dodgers
6. Braves
7. Orioles
8. Tigers
9. Yankees
10. Blue Jays
11. Giants
12. Phillies
13. Marlins
14. Reds
15. Red Sox
16. Angels
17. Indians
18. Mets
19. Diamondbacks
20. Rockies
21. Brewers
22. Athletics
23. White Sox
24. Astros
25. Mariners
26. Pirtates
27. Cubs
28. Royals
29. Padres
30. Twins

Marlon Byrd: Return to the AL

Marlon Byrd is returning to the AL, getting traded from the Cubs to Red Sox.  The last time Byrd played in the AL, he had his career year in 2009 with the Rangers and he wasn’t that bad in 2007 or 2008 either.  The traded happened almost two weeks ago, but I wanted to sample his first 10 games and so far he has lived up to what he can do in the AL.  He’s hitting .308 and that could be a constant and he will replace Ellsbury well, and when Jacoby comes back he should played right.  He won’t be as good as he was from 2007-09 but he will do well and his extra base hits will rise and he will hit some homers in Fenway.  He will play a good center fielder for the Red Sox too,  He should help and he should do better than Sweeney and be almost as good as Ross.  Byrd should have more good AB’s with the Red Sox and be himself again.  The Cubs were just a bad fit for Byrd and he’s in a good place all around again and I think he will have a strong finish and help the Sox and his market value.  Good move by the Red Sox

MLB Power Rankings 4/27/12

1. Rangers
2. Nationals
3. Dodgers
4. Cardinals
5. Rays
6. Yankees
7. Tigers
8. Braves
9. Blue Jays
10. Giants
11. Phillies
12. Red Sox
13. Diamondbacks
14. Orioles
15. Mets
16. Indians
17. Reds
18. White Sox
19. Marlins
20. Brewers
21. Rockies
22. Athletics
23. Mariners
24. Pirates
25. Angels
26. Cubs
27. Astros
28. Royals
29. Padres
30. Twins

NOTE: Tigers should rebound quickly and Nationals are for real

MLB Power Rankings: 4/21/12

1. Rangers
2. Dodgers
3. Nationals
4. Cardinals
5. Tigers
6. Yankees
7. Braves
8. Phillies
9. Rays
10. Blue Jays
11. Indinas
12. Brewers
13. Mets
14. Angels
15. Diamondbacks
16. Giants
17. Orioles
18. Marlins
19. Reds
20. Rockies
21. White Sox
22. Red Sox
23. Athletics
24. Twins
25. Pirates
26. Astros
27. Mariners
28. Royals
29. Cubs
30. Padres

MLB Power Rankings: First Two Weeks of 2012 season

1. Dodgers
2. Rangers
3. Cardinals
4. Nationals
5. Tigers
6. Diamondbacks
7. Yankees
8. Rays
9. Orioles
10. White Sox
11. Phillies
12. Red Sox
13. Mets
14. Angels
15. Braves
16. Blue Jays
17. Giants
18. Reds
19. Brewers
20. Rockies
21. Indians
22. Marlins
23. Mariners
24. Royals
25. Athletics
26. Cubs
27. Astros
28. Pirates
29. Twins
30. Padres

Top 10 Rangers Right Now

1 LF Josh Hamilton
2 3B Adrian Beltre
3 DH Michael Young
4 2B Ian Kinsler
5 C Mike Napoli
6 RF Nelson Cruz
7 SS Elvis Andrus
8 SP Yu Darvish
9 SP Neftali Feliz
10 SP Derek Holland
HM: Nathan, Moreland, Adams, Ogando, Harrison

Better, Worse, or The Same: Rangers

Mike Napoli- Worse, but still good
Yorvit Torrelba- Same
Mitch Moreland- Better
Ian Kinsler- Same
Elvis Andrus- Better
Adrain Beltre- Same
Nelson Cruz- Same
Josh Hamilton- Same
David Murphy- Same
Craig Gentry- Worse
Michael Young- Worse
Brandon Snyder- Same
Julio Borbon- Better
Conor Jackson- Same
Leonys Martin- Better
Alberto Gonzlaez- Worse

Yu Darvish- Good
Neftali Feliz- Better, as a starter
Matt Harrison- Worse
Derek Holland- Better
Colby Lewis- Same
Joe Nathan- Same
Alexei Ogando- Worse
Koji Uehara- Worse
Mike Adams- Same
Yohinori Tateyama- Same
Scott Feldman- Same
Mark Hamburger-Better
Mark Lowe- Better, not too much
Michael Kirkman- Better

Rangers Add Yu Darvish

The Rangers have signed Yu Darvish to a 6 six-year, 60 million dollar deal.  I think the Rangers win this deal because they are getting an ace if he adapt well, which shouldn’t be a problem.  His World Baseball Classic numbers were good and they were in MLB atmosphere.  He should be the best pitcher to come out of Japan even if he doesn;t fully live up to his expectation, which I see him being in the middle.  He replaces CJ Wilson well and should be a good starter.  Expect some struggles this year but a lower-3.00 ERA should be reasonable and it could get lower and should never climb above 4.  He should always have good stats.  His stuff is sick too and could be some of the best in baseball and facts are facts, he dominated in Japan, which si the best he could do but even with the inflation his numbers should take in the MLB, he should still be dominating.  I think he will be okay in the division and in the ballpark.  He’s a great signing and could be a difference maker int he division race, whether he;s good, or the smaller chance he isn’t.  he’s better than Daisuke and even better than Nomo and we should expect some good things from him and though he shouldn’t ever be a top or even top three pitcher, he could be special and feared.  Good fit and signing for both.

Bold Predictions for 2012

RED SOX: They will win over 90 games but miss the playoffs
YANKEES: Robinson Cano will hit 40 HR
RAYS: Will win the Wild Card with Longoria returning to hitting over .300
ORIOLES: Matt Wieters lives up to the potential
BLUE JAYS: Brett Lawrie leads the Blue Jays in Batting Average

TIGERS: Miguel Cabrera hits 40 HR and best his 2011 Average while taking the MVP, Verlander repeats his performance
ROYALS: They finish in second place behind Eric Hosmer becoming an elite 1B
INDIANS: Ubaldo Jimenez fails to win 12 games and is a flop
TWINS: Joe Mauer fails to hit .300 playing a full season
WHITE SOX: They finsih in last and Gordon Beckham breaks out

ANGELS: They fail to win the division and struggle against the Rangers 
ATHLETICS: Jarrod Parker wins or comes very close to the AL ROY
RANGERS: Neftali Feliz wins 19 games and has a sub-3 ERA
MARINERS: Dustin Ackley has a sophomore slump

PHILLIES: Jon Paplebon has blows over 7 saves
MARLINS: They win 90 games and the teams best player is Mike Stanton
METS: David Wright hits 30 HR
NATIONALS: Bryce Harper makes a June debut and he has more success than Strasburg
BRAVES: Freddie Freeman is the team MVP

CARDINALS: They Cardinals still win 88 games, but miss the playoffs
BREWERS: They still find a way to win the division
REDS: Come back strong and challenge for the division
CUBS: Starlin Castro get 200 hits again and Ian Stewart hits 27 HR
PIRATES: They finish at .500 or better
ASTROS: Jose Altuve finishes in the top 10 in average and challenges 200 hits

PADRES:Cameron Maybin goes 20-20
DODGERS: Matt Kemp wins the Triple Crown
GIANTS: Tim Lincecum wins 23 games the pitching triple crown
ROCKIES: They get back in the playoff hunt behind Tulowitzki’s 40 HR
DIAMONDBACKS: Justin Upton is second in the NL MVP behind Matt Kemp

Angels Sign Albert Pujols

The Angels have signed future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols to a ten-year, over 250 million dollar deal, sure he’s overpayed but he’s the best player in baseball since Barry Bonds(and no steroids!).  First, a reflection on his Cardinal career, considering last year was his worst and he missed out on 100 RBI on the season for the first team that he would have gotten easily barring a wrist injury, he has had a great Cardinal career and dare I say this but he’s pretty close to being as good as Stan Musial was in St. Louis and if you take Pujols 11 years and compare to Musial’s it’s a toss-up, plus he won two World Series, very successful and I think I’d take Pujols over Musial, though Musial I respect a ton and was one of the greatest hitters ever.  It’s a huge loss to the Cards and it will cost them at least 10 wins and a lot more, but they will survive and maybe they will surprise me.  Here’s how Pujols Angels career should play out, years 1-6 worth the money, years 7-8 Still great but overpayed, years 9-10 still good but way overpayed.  Pujols will have a big first year in LA, not his best ever and he may still have more to come but Pujols will have a good year and bolster the Angels line-up a ton.  The angels are probably a little better than the Rangers now too and Pujols should have a great rest of his career there.  He wills till win a few more MVPs and will be feared.  He will give them a lot fo production and there is no chance he will be a bust.  He’s the best player in the MLB so the impact for now will be off the charts but in 6-8 years the deal might be a bit heavy, but a lot of good to come for Pujols and he will just hit, hit, and hit some more.  His defense will be above average and this is a great fit.  The whole line-up looks a lot better.  Expect over a 115 HR in the first 3 years of the deal and over 375 in all of it, plus a .325-ish batting average and a ton of RBI, greats stats