Picking apart our offseason MLB Power Poll
Article By smcneal.tsn on 31st March, 2010
When Sporting News compiled its offseason baseball power poll, it really was the offseason. Like before Christmas. After three more months of moves and six weeks of spring training, you'd think our offseason rankings would need overhauling. Well, we don't. But we would tweak them a little.
The offseason power poll, with some late March analysis:
1. Yankees. Not a thing has happened to make us think they shouldn't be in the top spot. Actually, their chances improved after putting Joba Chamberlain in the correct role.
Brad Lidge is one of the Phillies' few concerns. 2. Phillies. With Brad Lidge still a concern, the gap between the No. 2 and 3 teams has tightened, but we'll still stick with the Phillies here. Their lineup has the majors' best balance of power, speed and defense.
3. Red Sox. A sure sign you've had a smooth spring: Manager Terry Francona spends part of a morning press briefing dissecting the battle for the organization's No. 8 and 9 starters. Dissecting this power poll, we can say the difference between No. 1 and No. 3 is smaller than the gap between No. 3 and No. 4.
4. Cardinals. They didn't have Matt Holliday when we did the poll in December, but we figured they would re-sign him. No need to jump off the Cardinals' bandwagon.
5. Rockies. The fact that no structural damage has been found in Huston Street's right shoulder is a good sign. We suppose. If we hadn't ignored the alarms set off when Street didn't pitch for three weeks last September, we would have slotted Colorado a bit lower. Still, there are worse backup plans than Franklin Morales.
6. Angels. We would rank few clubs this high after losing their All-Star leadoff hitter, No. 1 starter, future Hall of Fame DH and key lefthanded reliever. But we believe in Mike Scioscia.
7. Mariners. If we'd known Casey Kotchman and Milton Bradley would be manning the 3 hole and cleanup spot, we'd have bumped Seattl...
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The offseason power poll, with some late March analysis:
1. Yankees. Not a thing has happened to make us think they shouldn't be in the top spot. Actually, their chances improved after putting Joba Chamberlain in the correct role.
Brad Lidge is one of the Phillies' few concerns. 2. Phillies. With Brad Lidge still a concern, the gap between the No. 2 and 3 teams has tightened, but we'll still stick with the Phillies here. Their lineup has the majors' best balance of power, speed and defense.
3. Red Sox. A sure sign you've had a smooth spring: Manager Terry Francona spends part of a morning press briefing dissecting the battle for the organization's No. 8 and 9 starters. Dissecting this power poll, we can say the difference between No. 1 and No. 3 is smaller than the gap between No. 3 and No. 4.
4. Cardinals. They didn't have Matt Holliday when we did the poll in December, but we figured they would re-sign him. No need to jump off the Cardinals' bandwagon.
5. Rockies. The fact that no structural damage has been found in Huston Street's right shoulder is a good sign. We suppose. If we hadn't ignored the alarms set off when Street didn't pitch for three weeks last September, we would have slotted Colorado a bit lower. Still, there are worse backup plans than Franklin Morales.
6. Angels. We would rank few clubs this high after losing their All-Star leadoff hitter, No. 1 starter, future Hall of Fame DH and key lefthanded reliever. But we believe in Mike Scioscia.
7. Mariners. If we'd known Casey Kotchman and Milton Bradley would be manning the 3 hole and cleanup spot, we'd have bumped Seattl...
Read Complete Article at Latest Sporting News Articles for MLB
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