20 replies to this topic

[SportsGuy]

In terms of teams you feel are likely to make the 2013 playoffs, rank these teams from top to bottom..1 being most likely and so on...

Orioles
Yankees
Red Sox
TB
TOR
ChiWS
LAA
Det
Oak
Texas

[bnickle]

1. Angels
2. Tigers
3. Rangers
4. Yankees
5. Jays
6. Rays
7.O's
8.Red Sox
9. A's
10. White Sox


i'll say that IMO the top 3 are clear favs for me to make the playoffs. They're a step ahead of the other 7. I really think the AL East is going to be wide open. Gut says the Rays, and O's both take a step back but IMO they have the two best managers in the AL. That helps. I think the A's likely take a step back too. I don't like the White Sox this year at all. I think their '12 late season collapse carries over into '13.

As an FYI....I'd have the Royals somwhere in my top 8 teams. I think they are the team that could push the Tigers in the Central.

[SportsGuy]

1. Angels
2. Tigers
3. Rangers
4. Yankees
5. Jays
6. Rays
7.O's
8.Red Sox
9. A's
10. White Sox


i'll say that IMO the top 3 are clear favs for me to make the playoffs. They're a step ahead of the other 7. I really think the AL East is going to be wide open. Gut says the Rays, and O's both take a step back but IMO they have the two best managers in the AL. That helps. I think the A's likely take a step back too. I don't like the White Sox this year at all. I think their '12 late season collapse carries over into '13.

As an FYI....I'd have the Royals somwhere in my top 8 teams. I think they are the team that could push the Tigers in the Central.

Agree about KC...left them off on purpose.

[Mr. Oriole]

Det
TB
LAA
TOR
Texas
Yankees
Red Sox
ChiWS
Orioles
Oak

I believe there is a pretty dramatic drop from the top 5 teams to the bottom 5. The top have very few holes - or have talent available to fill holes (like TB) while each of the bottom have glaring weaknesses. On both ends - you could see teams switch order, but I can't see many elite dropping to the 2nd tier or vice versa.

[Pedro Cerrano]

LAA
Tor
Yankees
Detroit
Texas
Tampa Bay
Oakland
Red Sox
Orioles
White Sox

[LanceRinker]

LAA
Toronto
Detroit
Texas
Tampa Bay
Yankees
Orioles
Oakland
White Sox
Red Sox

[BSLChrisStoner]

LA
Det
Toronto
Texas

Orioles, Tampa Bay, Yankees

White Sox
Oakland
Boston

[Mackus]

In terms of teams you feel are likely to make the 2013 playoffs, rank these teams from top to bottom..1 being most likely and so on...

Orioles
Yankees
Red Sox
TB
TOR
ChiWS
LAA
Det
Oak
Texas

In terms of likelihood of making the playoffs:

Detroit
Anaheim
Chicago
Texas
Tampa Bay
New York
Toronto
Baltimore
Oakland
Boston

In terms of best to worst:
Anaheim
Tampa Bay
Texas
New York
Detroit
Toronto
Baltimore
Oakland
Chicago
Boston


I included a team's ability to make moves in-season as part of their ranking. So the Yankees and Angels are higher up than their current rosters indicate (moreso NY) because I think they are more likely to go out and make whatever moves are required to improve.

[RichardZ]

1. Detroit
2. LAA
3. Texas
4. Yankees
5. Toronto
6. Tampa Bay
7. Oakland
8. Baltimore
9. Boston
10. CHiWS

[SportsGuy]

Det
LAA
Texas
NYY
TOR
TB
Boston
Oak
Balt
Chi

[mweb08]

Detroit
LAA
Texas
Toronto
New York
Tampa
Baltimore
Oakland
Chicago
Boston

[bnickle]

I'm not sure how people can put Tor ahead of NY right now. I get it, I get what they've done on paper and it's worthy of them being a legit contender but they have to prove themselves somewhat.

[SportsGuy]

I'm not sure how people can put Tor ahead of NY right now. I get it, I get what they've done on paper and it's worthy of them being a legit contender but they have to prove themselves somewhat.

I feel Toronto is more talented...but agree with you that they need to show me something first.

NY's rotation should be deeper this year.

[JeffLong]

Hate to say it...

Texas
LAA
TB
Det
TOR
Yankees
Oak
ChiWS
Red Sox
Orioles

[BSLChrisStoner]

Hate to say it...

Texas
LAA
TB
Det
TOR
Yankees
Oak
ChiWS
Red Sox
Orioles

If you think Texas and LAA are the two best teams in the AL (which is certainly reasonable), I think it is hard to say the A's have a better chance at the playoffs than the O's.

Boston has been active, and that will likely continue during the remainder off the off-season, and into the year. They certainly have some capable pieces. Lester, Buchholz, Dempster, Doubront could be a solid 1-4. Ellsbury, Pedroia, Ortiz, Middlebrooks, S. Drew, Salty, Victorino, Gomes - could be decent. Better if Napoli becomes official, or LaRoche is added. Bard should be better, Uehara, and Hanrahan should help.

I get the idea that Boston probably won't win 69 games again. Right now, they look right below .500 to me.

All-in-all with the East, I think Toronto is the current favorite (though they do questions). Then I have the O's, TB, and NY basically very close to each other, with Boston a 1/2 step behind. Still love Tampa's pitching. There are a lot of things I don't like about NY, but they will still win 85-90 games.

Kind of a fun exercise looking ahead. There are some interesting looking teams out there. I think the O's are one of them. It's a long season. Teams will look different than expected (for good and bad) than they do right now. Health being a great equalizer.

[Mike B]

Toronto gets a lot of love due to being so active. One caution . Last year the Marlins were the Blue Jays. How did that work out for them?

[BSLChrisStoner]

Toronto gets a lot of love due to being so active. One caution . Last year the Marlins were the Blue Jays. How did that work out for them?

Yeah, I've had that in-mind some. I like their rotation. I think Romero rebounds, I love Morrow. Dickey will provide innings, and potentially could be very good again. Johnson threw 190ip last year, and I still like a lot. Not sure he ever gets back to being Cy caliber, but it's possible. Buehrle will be 34 when the season starts, but he is almost a lock for 30+ starts, and 200 innings.

Just getting consistent innings from Dickey, Johnson, and Buehrle will be huge for them.

Reyes will put up a ton of doubles at Skydome. Cabrera was a good addition as well. I think he produces in that Stadium, motivated to produce and get a longer contract. The Jays need Lawrie to rebound. Bautista probably doesn't miss as much time as he did in '12... when he was healthy though, his production went from super-human to very-good. What level he is at in '13, will also be something to watch.

[Mike B]

Real good post and there is a lot to like about Toronto, but I wanted to point out that trades and FA signings does not always mean wins. Boston did the same thing a few years ago and also imploded. I still think the Orioles make a trade before ST and if it is the right one then we can be right in the fight again.

[JeffLong]

If you think Texas and LAA are the two best teams in the AL (which is certainly reasonable), I think it is hard to say the A's have a better chance at the playoffs than the O's.

Boston has been active, and that will likely continue during the remainder off the off-season, and into the year. They certainly have some capable pieces. Lester, Buchholz, Dempster, Doubront could be a solid 1-4. Ellsbury, Pedroia, Ortiz, Middlebrooks, S. Drew, Salty, Victorino, Gomes - could be decent. Better if Napoli becomes official, or LaRoche is added. Bard should be better, Uehara, and Hanrahan should help.

I get the idea that Boston probably won't win 69 games again. Right now, they look right below .500 to me.

All-in-all with the East, I think Toronto is the current favorite (though they do questions). Then I have the O's, TB, and NY basically very close to each other, with Boston a 1/2 step behind. Still love Tampa's pitching. There are a lot of things I don't like about NY, but they will still win 85-90 games.

Kind of a fun exercise looking ahead. There are some interesting looking teams out there. I think the O's are one of them. It's a long season. Teams will look different than expected (for good and bad) than they do right now. Health being a great equalizer.

I guess I looked at it as a ranking of teams in terms of talent & likelihood of making the playoffs if there were no divisions.
Additionally, OAK is the third best team in that division, compared to the O's who I have as 4th best in the AL East. That would make it more likely that they could sneak into a playoff spot than the O's. I really think the A's are 1-step ahead of the O's in terms of pitching, the O's slightly ahead with the bats (solely based on supporting pieces. Reddick + Cespedes might be better than our 2 best hitters).

[Mike B]

I guess I looked at it as a ranking of teams in terms of talent & likelihood of making the playoffs if there were no divisions.
Additionally, OAK is the third best team in that division, compared to the O's who I have as 4th best in the AL East. That would make it more likely that they could sneak into a playoff spot than the O's. I really think the A's are 1-step ahead of the O's in terms of pitching, the O's slightly ahead with the bats (solely based on supporting pieces. Reddick + Cespedes might be better than our 2 best hitters).

I really do not agree that Reddick and Cespedes are better than our two best. If Reddick were here we would be pointing to his struggles later in the year and wondering if his homer barrage was a one year fluke. I really like Cespedes but wonder if the league will adjust.
I firmly believe that we think players on the other teams are better because we do not see them everyday. We see our guys every day and see the good and the bad. Oakland has good young pitching but I have to wonder if our pitching, especially the young guys would have better numbers if it had the benefit of playing in the Yellow stone park of baseball stadiums.
As for the Orioles being the 4th best team, I am not even sure that holds true on paper. Anyway, as the saying goes, that is why they play the games.