As Oct. rolled around last year St. Louis was running away from everyone. Last season just about the entire division had very disappointing seasons. Only the Cards and Cubs finished above .500. So who's better and who's worse?
Chicago Cubs 83-79
Arrivals
Carlos Silva, Jeff Gray and Marlon Byrd
Departures
Milton Bradley, Rich Harden, Jake Fox, Aaron Miles and Neal Cotts
Free Agents
Kevin Gregg, Reed Johnson, Chad Fox and So Taguchi
A mixed bag. Losing Milton Bradley is addition by subtraction. But how can any team overcome losing Rich Harden??? They also lost some depth of their bunch. Marlon Byrd is a decent addition. And I'm not crazy about Silva. I thought this was the best team in the NL going into last season. 83 wins was a disappointment. As a whole they have taken a small step back.
Cincinnati Reds 78-84
Arrivals
Aroldis Chapman, Josh Anderson
Departures
Craig Tatum, Danny Richar
Free Agents
Kip Wells and Johnny Gomes
In my eyes one of the most disappointing teams in 2009. I thought they were at least a .500 team. When Cincinnati signed the Cuban defector it shocked alot of people. Is he worth the 25-30 mil? No one who for sure. Frankly it was a huge risk. And I don't think it was wise to invest so much payroll on a unproven talent. Most experts think he is not as good as Steven Strasburg.
Houston Astros 74-88
Arrivals
Matt Lindstrom, Pedro Feliz, Brandon Lyon and Brett Myers
Departures
LaTroy Hawkins, Chris Coste and Jose Valverde
Free Agents
Mike Hampton, Miguel Tejada, Darin Erstad, Aaron Boone and Doug Brocail
Every year is seems one team invests millions of dollars on guaranteed contracts on mediocre players, This years winners are the Astros. This is a team that should face the facts that they should be in full rebuilding mode. Adding all those FA means maybe they win 75 games instead of 70.
Milwaukee Brewers 80-82
Arrivals
Randy Wolf, LaTroy Hawkins, Carlos Gomez, George Kottaras and Matt Treanor
Departures
J.J.Hardy, Jason Bougeois, Jason Kendall, Mike Cameron and Cory Patterson
Free Agents
Felipe Lopez, Frank Catalonotto, David Weathers, Braden Looper, Seth McClung and Mike Rivera
Milwaukee is loaded with young talent. The two big off season moves were 1.getting a proven starter in Randy Wolf and second the swap with Minnesota sending JJ Hardy to Minnesota for Carlos Gomez. Gomez gives them speed and alot of range in center. Apparently the Brewers gave up on Hardy and are ready to hand the SS job to Alcides Escobar. This will be a very interesting team.
Pittsburgh Pirates 62-99
Arrivals
Bobby Crosby, Akinori Iwamura, Chris Jakubakas, Javier Lopez, Ryan Chursch, DJ Carrasco and Brian Bass
Departures
Jose Chavez, Phil Dumatrait and Matt Capps
Free Agents
None
I really like what the Bucs did. They brought in many guys who might help them be competitive now. While not committing alot of payroll. All the players they picked up will probably be short term solutions. Another common theme in their off season pickups is players in which a change of scenery might help. Make no mistake this team will not contend in 2010. But they will should not lose 100 games.
St. Louis Cardinals 91-71
Arrivals
Brad Penny
Departures
Brad Thompson, Joe Thurston, Troy Glaus, Mark DeRosa, Khalil Greene
Free Agents
Joel Pineiro, Todd wellemeyer, John Smoltz and Rick Ankiel
The biggest off season move was to re-sign Matt Holliday. I have no problem letting everyone go to have enough money to sign Holliday. Not resigning Pineiro to a long term deal was the right decision as you never want to over pay for a career year. Penny was very solid down the stretch for San Fran last year. The combination of Pujols and Holliday should be devastating. St. Louis accomplished what they needed to do this off season. They won't run away this year. But another 90 win season seems in the Cards.
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