Of the Teams That had Good Off-Season Transactions, Who will Produce and Who will Flop?
The Ex:
As much as I hate to say this as an Orioles fan, despite what they are doing in free agency, another losing season is in their future. And it’s not necessarily their fault either. They just do not have the pitching to compete against the top notch offenses of the AL East, especially with the Yankees spending that much money in the off-season. It was a real shame they could not bring in Mark Teixeira to be the local, home-town hero, and despite them locking up Brian Roberts and Nick Markakis, along with bringing in Koji Uehara from Japan, Rich Hill, and Mark Hendrickson to hopefully eat up innings until Brian Matsuz and Chris Tillman are ready to step into the starting rotation, they are a few years away. While I did not like the fact that they traded Ramon Hernandez, I like the pickups of Ryan Freel (who is a 25-25 guy) and Ty Wigginton too. Still, it looks to be another long year for O’s fans (hopefully Matt Wieters will bring some hope for the future).
Guru:
Keeping with the whole local team vibe, it’s going to be another long season for the Pittsburgh Pirates. How I am a fan, don’t ask- mainly the only think in Pittsburgh I like. In the off-season, they made some moves, like keeping Jack Wilson, Ryan Doumit and Nate McClouth- there main offensive guns. Add Andy Phillips formerly of the Yankees (1B role player) to that, Adam Laroche along with Freddie Sanchez and it looks like they have it made right? Wrong. The NL Central has the Cubs, the Brewers (w/o C.C), and the Cardinals- literally a hot bed of losses if the Pirates pitching cannot muster something short of a miracle. Their pitchers are somewhat decent, but it is going to take some strong play from their prospects that they are bringing up from the keg leagues to get the job done this season. Remember this name- Shelby Ford. Another losing season, I am afraid.