CarterHud

    

With a record of 68-94, the San Diego Padres finished last in the NL West, 23 GB of the first place Los Angeles Dodgers. Former Tampa Bay Rays top prospect Wil Myers had a breakout year for the Padres, with 28 HRs and 28 SBs. The Padres will most likely be awful in 2017. GM A.J. Preller has always made trades when he needs to. Let\’s look at what Preller did.

     Key additions: SPs Trevor Cahill, Jered Weaver, Jhoulys Chacin, Tyrell Jenkins, SS Erick Aybar, OF Collin Cowgill.
     Key subtractions: SP Tyson Ross, C Derek Norris, OF John Jay, 2B Alexi Amarista, RPs Jose Dominguez, Leonel Campos, Matt Thornton, Brandon Morrow, Edwin Jackson.

     Biggest move: The Padres signed 2 starters that I\’ll note to small contracts. They signed Trevor Cahill to a one year, $1.75 million deal, and former Angels ace Jered Weaver to a one year, $3 million deal. These are both \”prove it\” deals, and Weaver can also be a great mentor for their younger pitchers.
     X-factor: After the Padres traded former all-star Chase Headley to the New York Yankees, Headley struggled. The guy who they got for Headley, 3B Yangervis Solarte, is doing better. In 2016, Solarte set career highs in HRs (15), RBIs (71) and average (.286). He\’s one of the only solid players on this team. He\’s often overlooked by the bad part of this club.
     Biggest bounce back: The entire team. Well, most of it. The one I\’ll highlight is Jarred Cosart. In 2014, Cosart had a 3.69 ERA in 180.1 innings. In 57 innings last year, Cosart had a 6.00 ERA. Cosart might not get a rotation spot, but if he does, he needs to pitch in at least 100 innings for the first time since \’14.
     Biggest breakout: Out of their 4 outfielders, their 4th outfielder Alex Dickerson is the oldest at 26 years of age. One of their outfielders will breakout in 2017. That\’s 22 year old Manuel Margot. He was named baseball\’s number 1 fielding prospect. He made his MLB debut in 2016, with 3 RBIs and a .243 average in 37 ABs. A full MLB season can really help Margot\’s development.
    Guaranteed star: The only one on this team who you can even call a \”star\” is Wil Myers. Like I said before, his 28 HRs and SBs in 2016 are something to even improve on in 2016.
    The Padres lineup should look like this.

1. CF: Travis Jankowski
2. 3B: Yangervis Solarte
3. 1B: Wil Myers
4. 2B: Ryan Schimpf
5. SS: Erick Aybar
6. RF: Hunter Renfroe
7. LF: Manuel Margot
8. C: Austin Hedges
9. Pitcher
      Their rotation will probably be this.

1. Luis Perdomo
2. Clayton Richard
3. Jered Weaver
4. Jhouyls Chacin
5. Christian Freidrich (currently injured)

       2B Cory Spangenberg, SS Luis Sardinas, LF Alex Dickerson (injured), RF Jabari Blash and C Luis Torrens will be on the bench.
       Brandon Maurer will be their closer, with Carter Capps and Brad Hand setting him up.

       Finally, for my prediction, I think the Padres will lose at least 100 games in 2017. they\’ll be the only team to do that. In a couple of years, they\’ll start to exit the rebuild.

   

When a team drafts a player in the first round, they expect him to at least make the NHL (or MLB, NFL, NBA, or whatever league there is with a draft). When the New York Islanders drafted Anthony Beauvillier 28th overall in 2015, they expected him to make the team eventually. They did not expect he would make it the next season. But on opening night, 2016, Beauvillier made his debut at just 19 years of age. The Sorel-Tracy, Quebec native has 21 points (8 goals and 13 assists) in 57 games this season, and in his career. He quickly made it to the NHL after tearing it up for the Shawinigan Cataractes of the QMJHL for three seasons.
      At his teammate Anders Lee\’s Kan Jam event, I was able to catch up with \”Beau\”, or \”Tito\”. Here\’s what I asked him.

      Me: \”What do you think of this event Anders Lee is running?\”
      Beauvillier: \”It\’s something special. It was a fun event. It shows how great Anders is as a person. It was a great event, it was a great night.\”

     M: Was it tough to make the change from the QMJHL to the NHL without having any experience in the AHL?\”
     B: \”Yes, it\’s special. It\’s a big step. I\’m living my dream. I enjoy every single day.\”

     M: \”How has the team changed from December to now?\”
     B: \”We\’ve worked our way through. We\’re exactly where we want to be right now. We want to keep pushing. The next couple of weeks are going to be really important for us, important games for us. Like I said, this is where we want to be. It\’s very exciting to play, and this is going to be fun.\”

 If an NHL team wants to have a chance at winning the Stanley Cup, they need a top line center. The New York Islanders have that in John Tavares. A team also needs a number one defenseman. The Islanders also have that in Nick Leddy. Another thing a team needs is a number one winger. The Isles have adopted to having 27 year old Josh Bailey as their top winger. The Isles drafted Bailey 9th overall in the 2008 draft. The Bowmanville, Ontario native has exactly 300 points (105 goals and 195 assists) in 630 career NHL games, all for the Islanders. He is having a career season currently, with career highs in assists (38) and points (50).
   
     At his teammate Anders Lee\’s Kan Jam event, I was able to catch up with Bailey. Here\’s what I asked him.

     Me: \”What do you think of this event Anders Lee is running?
     Bailey: \”I think it\’s great. I think Anders has put a lot of work into this. It was something we were all happy to join him with, to help towards a good cause. Any time you can give back to the local community, especially kids who are going through a tough time is always a great thing.\”
  
     M: \”How do you think the team has changed from December to now?\”
     B: \”I don\’t think I\’d say much changed. We always believed we can be here, and give ourselves a chance to make the playoffs, and try to win a Stanley Cup. [We] still have 11 games* to go. They are going to be the hardest ones yet. We want to play our best.\”

     M: \”You are having a career season this year, has
 captain John Tavares affected it at all?\”
     B: \”Of course he does. He\’s one of the best players in the league, and in the world. He\’s fun to play with every night. He makes a lot of great plays. Anders [Lee does] as well. It\’s been a lot of fun playing with those two this year. We just want to play our best hockey for the next couple of games.

      *This interview was recorded before their games against the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins. They now have 9 games remaining.

     With a record of 78-83, the Pittsburgh Pirates finished 3rd in the NL Central, 25 GB of the first place Chicago Cubs. Star CF Andrew McCutchen was nearly traded in the offseason, after a career low in average (.256) and his lowest RBI total since 2010 with 79. He\’s also switched positions to right field. After a 93 win 2015, the Bucs won 15 less games in 2016. If they want to finish over .500 in 2017, GM Neal Huntington needed to improve the team in the offseason. Let\’s see what Huntington did.

     Key additions: RPs Daniel Hudson, Pat Light, Josh Lindblom, 2B Phil Gosselin.
     Key subtractions: SS Sean Rodriguez, OF Matt Joyce, RPs Neftali Feliz, Jeff Locke, Ryan Vogelsong.

     Biggest move: The Pirates didn\’t make that many moves, but they brought in a solid reliever in Daniel Hudson, after signing him to a 2 year, $11 million deal. His lights-out April (0.77 ERA in 11.2 innings) was one to remember, but the Bucs would like Hudson to become a solid set up guy in 2017 and \’18.
     X-factor: In 2016, 3B/SS Jung Ho Kang hit 21 HRs in 318 ABs. Legal troubles and the fact that he was denied a work visa can prevent him from playing for the Pirates in 2017 (That\’s why he is not mentioned in the roster part below). But if he plays, he can help the Pirates win some games.
     Biggest bounce back: Like I mentioned earlier, now RF Andrew McCutchen (am I the only one who thinks that looks weird?) had a bad 2016. If he wants to make sure he stays in Pittsburgh, he\’ll need to have a way better 2017.
     Biggest breakout: This one is tough to decide. So, I\’ll put two guys here.
     First, 24 year old Josh Bell will finally get the starting 1B job in Pittsburgh. He made his MLB debut in 2016, after hitting .295 or better in each minor league season since 2014. He hit 3 HRs and .273 in 128 MLB ABs last season. In his first full season, Bell will look to impress many.
     The other guy also made his MLB debut in 2016. Top prospect Tyler Glasnow was called up after a 1.93 ERA in 116.2 innings in the minors. He had an ERA of 4.24 in 23.1 inning last year, and can pitch in the back of the rotation this year. I think 2017 will either be a big breakout season for Glasnow, or a solid development year.
     Guaranteed star: Normally, I\’d pick McCutchen in a heartbeat. But, while McCutchen struggled in 2017, new CF Starling Marte had a very nice 2016. His HRs dipped from 19 to 9, but in 90 less ABs. His average raised from .287 to .311. He had a nice raise from 30 SBs to 47. If you\’re playing fantasy baseball, Marte is a solid pick.
     The Pirates lineup should look like this.

1. LF: Gregory Polanco
2. CF: Starling Marte
3. RF: Andrew McCutchen
4. 2B: Josh Harrison
5. 1B: Josh Bell
6. SS: Jordy Mercer
7. 3B: David Freese
8. C: Francisco Cervelli
9. Pitcher
      Their rotation will probably be this.

1. Gerrit Cole
2. Ivan Nova
3. Jameson Taillon
4. Tyler Glasnow
5. Chad Kuhl/Drew Hutchinson

      1B John Jaso, OF Adam Frazier and C Chris Stewart will be on the bench.
      Tony Watson will be their closer, with Daniel Hudson and Felipe Rivero setting him up.

      Finally, for my prediction, I think the Pittsburgh Pirates will progress in 2017, but miss the playoffs.

     

With a record of 71-91, the Philadelphia Phillies finished 4th in the NL East, 24 GB of the first place Washington Nationals. Former face of the franchise Ryan Howard finally left, after having a bad last couple of seasons. As rebuilders, GM Matt Klentak needed to make the team younger in the offseason. Let\’s look at what Klentak did.

       Key additions: SP Clay Buchholz, OFs Michael Saunders, Howie Kendrick, RPs Pat Neshek, Joaquin Benoit, Pedro Beato, OFs Chris Coghlan, Daniel Nava, SP Sean Burnett, Cs Ryan Hanigan, Bryan Holaday, SS Pedro Florimon.
       Key subtractions: 1Bs Ryan Howard, Darin Ruf, RP David Hernandez, OFs Peter Bourjos, Cody Asche, 2B Darnell Sweeney, Jimmy Paredes, SP Severino Gonzalez.

       Biggest move: The Phillies made a bunch of minor moves, but made some productive moves too. The one I\’ll highlight is acquiring former star 2B Howie Kendrick from the Los Angeles Dodgers for Darin Ruf and Darnell Sweeney. He\’s turned into an outfielder, but seems to be past his .290 days. The Phillies are looking for a bounce back year out of Kendrick.
       X-factor: CF Odubel Herrera had a great second MLB season in 2016. He hit 15 HRs and stole 25 bases. The former Rule 5 draft pick is a big part of this Phillies team. When they become contenders, he\’ll be a leader.
       Biggest bounce back: They former Red Sox star pitcher Clay Buchholz was acquired by the Phillies this offseason for 2B Josh Tobias. But, he\’s no longer a star. He can be a solid mentor for their young pitchers. His 4.78 ERA in 139.1 IP last year wasn\’t so great. Buchholz will try to do better this year.
       Biggest breakout: The Phillies and fans league wide were expecting now 23 year old pitcher Aaron Nola to breakout in 2016. Well, that didn\’t happen. Like Buchholz, Nola had a 4.78 ERA, but this time in 111 innings. Maybe 2017 is the year Nola turns into a star.
       Guaranteed star: This could be controversial, but I\’ll go with 24 year old 3B Maikel Franco. He hit 25  HR sand 88 RBIs in 2016. He might not be the biggest star right now (your opinion), but he\’ll definitely be their big star in the future.
       The Phillies lineup should look like this.

1. 2B: Cesar Hernanadez
2. CF: Odubel Herrera
3. 3B: Maikel Franco
4. 1B: Tommy Joseph
5. RF: Michael Saunders
6. LF: Howie Kendrick
7. C: Cameron Rupp
8. SS: Freddy Galvis
9. Pitcher
         Their rotation will probably be this.

1. Jeremy Helickson
2. Aaron Nola
3. Vince Velasquez
4. Clay Buchholz
5. Jerad Eickhoff

         3B Andres Blanco, OF Aaron Altherr and C Andrew Knapp will be on the bench.
         Jeanmar Gomez will be their closer, with Pat Neshak and Joaquin Benoit setting him up.

         Finally, for my prediction, I think the Phillies will have a growth year in 2017. With the Atlanta Braves exiting their rebuild, the Phillies will drop to last in the NL East.