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moxie
Polite as fuck.
According to ESPN
The way-too-early 2016 power rankings
1. Chicago Cubs
The oddsmakers in Las Vegas have already established the Cubs as the betting favorite to win the World Series and I'm inclined to agree. Coming off a 97-win season, they were starting four rookies in the National League Championship Series and you can expect all four of those players to improve. With so many young players and Anthony Rizzo signed to a team-friendly deal, the Cubs have padding in the payroll to make a big free-agent splash and many expect them to reunite David Price with manager Joe Maddon.
2. Kansas City Royals
If there's one thing we've learned the past two postseasons, it's that the Royals are built for the playoffs. The lack of rotation depth isn't as important -- you can pitch your best relievers more often and for more innings and the contact-oriented approach has scored enough runs. They'll lose Johnny Cueto and Ben Zobrist but will make a push to re-sign Alex Gordon.
3. Toronto Blue Jays
It's not just that the Jays led the majors in runs but it's that they scored 127 more runs than any other team in easily producing the best run differential in the majors at plus-221, the highest since the 2001 Seattle Mariners. That offense returns intact and while you worry a bit about some of the ages of the core players (Jose Bautista will be 35, both Russell Martin and Edwin Encarnacion 33), they should once again score a ton of runs. Price and Marco Estrada are free agents and while Price may walk, look for them to re-sign Estrada and remember that they'll have Marcus Stroman back for the entire season.
4. St. Louis Cardinals
They're always up there, right? While they get Adam Wainwright back in a rotation that led the majors in ERA, he may end up replacing free agentJohn Lackey. The lineup has depth but finished 11th in both runs and home runs, with Jason Heyward likely departing as a free agent.
5. San Francisco Giants
With one of the best infields in the majors plus one of the best players in Buster Posey, the Giants will score runs -- they were fourth in the majors and second in the National League in runs per game on the road. They'll need to upgrade the defense in center field and look for them to fix the rotation by re-signing Mike Leake and going after another one of the free-agent arms like Lackey, Jordan Zimmermann and maybe even Price. With Tim Lincecum andTim Hudson off the books, that's $30 million to play with.
6. New York Mets
You'd think the rotation alone should be good enough to carry the team to 90 wins, but isn't that we said about the Washington Nationals heading into 2015? They'll lose Yoenis Cespedes and probably Daniel Murphy, butMichael Conforto will become the everyday left fielder and Wilmer Flores orDilson Herrera will replace Murphy at second base. You have to worry aboutDavid Wright's ability to stay on the field and GM Sandy Alderson should add roster depth for the entire season, not just for a playoff push.
7. Cleveland Indians
"The Bill James Handbook" includes a chart called Team Efficiency Summary. Well, the Indians were tied with the Cincinnati Reds for worst team efficiency in the majors. They created about 698 runs on offense based on their various statistics but scored just 669 runs. They allowed 640 runs instead of an estimated expected total of 587. Their "expected" wins total was 94; instead, they won 81. While 2015 doesn't have anything to do with 2016, I think there's talent here to improve.
8. Pittsburgh Pirates
It's difficult for a small-market team to keep it going year after year, but the Pirates will be aiming for a fourth straight playoff trip -- and hopefully a division title instead of a wild card. They'll have to replace 37 terrific starts fromA.J. Burnett and J.A. Happ (combined 2.81 ERA) and the bullpen will be hard-pressed to repeat its terrific 2015. But they have an MVP candidate in Andrew McCutchen and a solid offense around him.
9. Los Angeles Dodgers
I'd rank them higher if we knew they were going to re-sign Zack Greinke (who will presumably exercise his option to become a free agent), but that's no guarantee, even with the Dodgers' deep pockets. There will be a new manager to make sense of what many still consider an oddly configured roster and the offense ranked just 12th in the NL in the second half in runs per game.
10. Boston Red Sox
Every year, a team or teams go from under .500 to the playoffs. In 2015, the Mets, Cubs, Houston Astros and Texas Rangers did. So these power rankings are probably already way off. Anyway, the Red Sox are a good bet to improve. They have a base of young position players like Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts and Blake Swihart who should be better in 2016, they won't repeat theHanley Ramirez left-field disaster, and you know they'll be all-in on a starting pitcher.
The way-too-early 2016 power rankings
1. Chicago Cubs
The oddsmakers in Las Vegas have already established the Cubs as the betting favorite to win the World Series and I'm inclined to agree. Coming off a 97-win season, they were starting four rookies in the National League Championship Series and you can expect all four of those players to improve. With so many young players and Anthony Rizzo signed to a team-friendly deal, the Cubs have padding in the payroll to make a big free-agent splash and many expect them to reunite David Price with manager Joe Maddon.
2. Kansas City Royals
If there's one thing we've learned the past two postseasons, it's that the Royals are built for the playoffs. The lack of rotation depth isn't as important -- you can pitch your best relievers more often and for more innings and the contact-oriented approach has scored enough runs. They'll lose Johnny Cueto and Ben Zobrist but will make a push to re-sign Alex Gordon.
3. Toronto Blue Jays
It's not just that the Jays led the majors in runs but it's that they scored 127 more runs than any other team in easily producing the best run differential in the majors at plus-221, the highest since the 2001 Seattle Mariners. That offense returns intact and while you worry a bit about some of the ages of the core players (Jose Bautista will be 35, both Russell Martin and Edwin Encarnacion 33), they should once again score a ton of runs. Price and Marco Estrada are free agents and while Price may walk, look for them to re-sign Estrada and remember that they'll have Marcus Stroman back for the entire season.
4. St. Louis Cardinals
They're always up there, right? While they get Adam Wainwright back in a rotation that led the majors in ERA, he may end up replacing free agentJohn Lackey. The lineup has depth but finished 11th in both runs and home runs, with Jason Heyward likely departing as a free agent.
5. San Francisco Giants
With one of the best infields in the majors plus one of the best players in Buster Posey, the Giants will score runs -- they were fourth in the majors and second in the National League in runs per game on the road. They'll need to upgrade the defense in center field and look for them to fix the rotation by re-signing Mike Leake and going after another one of the free-agent arms like Lackey, Jordan Zimmermann and maybe even Price. With Tim Lincecum andTim Hudson off the books, that's $30 million to play with.
6. New York Mets
You'd think the rotation alone should be good enough to carry the team to 90 wins, but isn't that we said about the Washington Nationals heading into 2015? They'll lose Yoenis Cespedes and probably Daniel Murphy, butMichael Conforto will become the everyday left fielder and Wilmer Flores orDilson Herrera will replace Murphy at second base. You have to worry aboutDavid Wright's ability to stay on the field and GM Sandy Alderson should add roster depth for the entire season, not just for a playoff push.
7. Cleveland Indians
"The Bill James Handbook" includes a chart called Team Efficiency Summary. Well, the Indians were tied with the Cincinnati Reds for worst team efficiency in the majors. They created about 698 runs on offense based on their various statistics but scored just 669 runs. They allowed 640 runs instead of an estimated expected total of 587. Their "expected" wins total was 94; instead, they won 81. While 2015 doesn't have anything to do with 2016, I think there's talent here to improve.
8. Pittsburgh Pirates
It's difficult for a small-market team to keep it going year after year, but the Pirates will be aiming for a fourth straight playoff trip -- and hopefully a division title instead of a wild card. They'll have to replace 37 terrific starts fromA.J. Burnett and J.A. Happ (combined 2.81 ERA) and the bullpen will be hard-pressed to repeat its terrific 2015. But they have an MVP candidate in Andrew McCutchen and a solid offense around him.
9. Los Angeles Dodgers
I'd rank them higher if we knew they were going to re-sign Zack Greinke (who will presumably exercise his option to become a free agent), but that's no guarantee, even with the Dodgers' deep pockets. There will be a new manager to make sense of what many still consider an oddly configured roster and the offense ranked just 12th in the NL in the second half in runs per game.
10. Boston Red Sox
Every year, a team or teams go from under .500 to the playoffs. In 2015, the Mets, Cubs, Houston Astros and Texas Rangers did. So these power rankings are probably already way off. Anyway, the Red Sox are a good bet to improve. They have a base of young position players like Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts and Blake Swihart who should be better in 2016, they won't repeat theHanley Ramirez left-field disaster, and you know they'll be all-in on a starting pitcher.