It's that time of year again! Spring is in the air and the Baseball season gets underway on Sunday, April 5th with the Phillies hosting the Braves. Then, on Monday, it's the more "traditional" opening day with a number of teams in action including plenty of daytime baseball. It's a wonderful time of year and it's something we look forward to with great anticipation. To help get you "geared up" for one of the best times of year, here are five teams and their respective win totals along with an opinion on the over or the under. Keep in mind, there are 30 teams to look at but these are 3 teams that we feel offer particularly strong value for the 2009 season! Now it's time to "play ball" so let's get to work!
Minnesota Twins OVER 83 wins - First off, playing in the American League's Central Division means there is plenty of mediocrity to contend with. The Twins will have many games against the Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Royals, Cleveland Indians, and Detroit Tigers. That right there is an edge for this over. One of the key things we like about the Twins is their hunger here as they just missed the post-season last year when the White Sox beat them out by one game to take the division. Also, Minnesota's rotation is very solid for 2009 and pitching is always a big key. We like Ron Gardenhire's strong managerial skills and, of course, Joe Nathan is a solid closer. The defense is solid and the Twins also have good sticks on the bench. Once again, this team will not hit a lot of homers but we do like the addition of Joe Crede in terms of boosting the offense. Once again though, pitching and "small ball" on offense will lead the way for the Twins!
Oakland Athletics OVER 81.5 wins - The A's should enjoy more success than many are expecting. For starters, the Angels are getting all the hype in the AL West Division but the A's do look like they're a solid step above the other two teams. The Texas Rangers are weak on pitching and the Seattle Mariners are weak on hitting! As for the A's, they've been known for a long time now as a weak-hitting, pitching-heavy ballclub. While that time of team is most conducive to success in pitcher-friendly Oakland, this team should definitely be much stronger at the plate this season. The A's have an improved offense with the additions of Orlando Cabrera, Matt Holliday, and Jason Giambi. The Athletics offense looks much improved over last season's team. Additionally, even though the rotation is young, we like the looks of the solid arms there including some good ones that good break through this season if called upon. Keep in mind, as usual, the pitchers will be helped by pitching their home games (as well as divisional road games at Seattle and Anaheim) in pitcher-friendly parks! Remember the Tampa Bay Rays rotation was also considered young last season and look where they ended up! Helped by the fact that their bullpen also looks strong and the A's have added pop in the lineup, they could surprise some people!
Cincinnati Reds OVER 79.5 wins - Playing in the National League Central gives the Reds a lot of opportunity against weaker foes. Here's a key note about that too. The Pirates have the lowest posted win total for the upcoming season out of all thirty MLB teams. As for the other four central division teams - Cubs, Brewers, Astros, Cardinals - their posted win total for the upcoming season is lower than the number of wins they had last season. Guess who that leaves as the most improved club here? It is Cincinnati, of course! The Reds will likely be chasing the Cubs - like everyone else in the division - but, the fact is that the Cardinals bullpen is a mess and the starting rotation has question marks. The Brewers lost key pitchers C.C. Sabathia and Ben Sheets. The Astros starting rotation also looks weak and the Pirates..well..they're still the Pirates - enough said! The Reds improved outlook stems from a potentially dominant starting rotation. The top four guys are all capable of dominating and came up with impressive starts last season. With consistency the domination becomes a regular occurrence. Even the #5 spot in the rotation has been a good battle between Micah Owings and Homer Bailey. Manager Dusty Baker loves his pitching staff and wishes he could keep 14 instead of just 12. That's how strong the rotation and bullpen has potential to be. The Reds lineup is of concern as, even though they play their home games in a home run hitters park, they aren't really built for homers. However, Baker's perceived philosophy on this is to build for overall success not just to suit your home park. Baker has a lot of confidence in some guys at the top of the lineup to set the table for some bats that (though they are not Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey) have pop like Jay Bruce, Brandon Phillips, and Joey Votto. The bench depth of this team is not a strength but we like the composition of these teams lineup, rotation, and bullpen and they are very likely to finish above .500 this season.
