Early Week National TV Baseball Preview

Time to see what's in store to start the second week of the season

Red Sox vs. Twins Monday ESPN

Lester vs. Pavano

Interest Level:6

The Twins finally get to open Target Field. It should be interesting to see how this stadium plays out in terms of whether it will be hitter friendly or not. The Red Sox come into this game at 3-3, the Twins have started 5-2 and at this point and appear to have not missed a beat despite not having Joe Nathan closing games out.

Reds vs. Marlins Monday MLB Network

Cueto vs. Nolasco

Interest Level: 4

The Reds were a lot of peoples pick to be a sleeper team in 2010. With a 3-3 start, they haven't really done anything to prove or disprove this notion. The Marlins had a nice first week going 4-2 and bring Ricky Nolasco (one of my picks to bounce back in 2010) to the hill.

Angels vs. Yankees Tuesday MLB Network

Santana vs. Pettite

Interest Level: 5

The Yankees started off pretty strong this week at a 4-2 clip. The Angels, well they have had better weeks. Hideki Matsui looks to be an excellent signing for the Angels early on as he came up clutch against the A's in last nights game. One of the few bright spots in their 2-5 week. Speaking of bright spots, Brandon Wood has been the exact opposite of this in his first week with a full time starting gig. Is this a sign of things to come or just the result of a bad week? We'll find out in due time.

D-Backs vs. Dodgers Tuesday MLB Network

Kennedy vs. Kershaw

Interest Level: 6

An early season NL West divisional battle. Not too much of a shock that one of these teams is sitting in second and one of them is sitting in fourth. The surprising thing is that the D-Backs are the team sitting in second and the Dodgers are the team sitting in 4th. One good reason to check this game out is that Clayton Kershaw is taking the hill for the Dodgers. Kershaw still struggles with bouts of wildness from time to time but has the talent/potential to be a Cy Young award caliber pitcher. Does this happen in 2010? Stay tuned to find out.

Nationals vs. Phillies Wednesday MLB Network

TBD vs. Kendrick

Interest Level: 4

The Phillies were expected by just about everyone to take the NL East so the fact that they are 5-1 and hanging out in 1st place shouldn't be shock to anyone. The Nationals were expected to drop straight down to the cellar but had a respectable 3-3 first week which was aided by random big games from the likes of Cristian Guzman and Willy Taveras (who did their part to place me in the basement of my Razzball league).

Astros vs. Cardinals

Myers vs. Penny

Interest Level:5

Another game where there isn't too many surprises about the teams respective places in the standings. No surprise at St. Louis at the top. No surprise that the Astros are at the bottom. The one surprise with the Astros is just the degree of ineptitude they have displayed in the first week of the season. They carry the title of being the only team to not win a game in 2010........ouch.

NL East Preview Part II

Our standings after the first half:

Phillies 17

Braves 22

Nationals 25

Marlins 27

Mets 29

Starting Rotation:

Phillies-4

Braves-8

Marlins-12

Mets-16

Nationals-20

The Phillies by far are best off in the rotation. Halladay ends up in Philly (finally) and it would be shock if he isn't one of the top 5 pitchers in the league. While Hamels didn't exactly light the world on fire in 2009 which was aided more by a high BABIP against and not on him suddenly turning into a mediocre pitcher. Blanton is your protypical mid-rotation pitcher...no better no worse. There's absolutely no way J.A. Happ replicates his breakthrough year but at the same time he's a better #4 option than anyone else has.

The Braves may be weak in the star-power at the top of the rotation but make up for it with depth. There's no way Lowe struggles as much this year as last, Hanson and Jurrjens are likely to come down a little bit from strong 2009 seasons but that doesn't change the fact that both of them are legit pitchers. Hudson pitched well after coming back from injury but 42 innings is too early to tell whether he can stay healthy and whether he can return to his dominant form.

Josh Johnson may not be a household name like Halladay or Santana but if 2009 is any indication, he could be within the discussion for best pitcher in the NL East this year. Nolasco should bounce back after struggles connected more to bad luck than being a bad pitcher. Volstad should hold his own as a #3 but beyond that don't expect much from the Marlins rotation.

For the Mets, its Santana and.....not much else. Maine and Pelfrey are pretty mediocre pitchers, Oliver Perez is an asset to Razzball and anyone that's a fan of pitchers who think the strike zone is a foreign concept.

The Nationals have John Lannan and Jason Marquis as their top two starters......and it gets worse from there......ouch

Bullpen

Mets-4

Braves-8

Phillies-12

Nationals-16

Marlins-20

Not too crazy about what any of these teams have with the game on the line. The Mets do have K-Rod.....while he does make lots of money and racks up lots of saves....i'm not quite sold on him as being elite.....but he has been relatively healthy (Unlike Wagner) and has never racked up blown saves and 7-plus ERAs like they were going out of style (Brad Lidge....cough....cough) so the Mets get this one by default.

Final Rankings

Phillies-33

Braves-38

Mets-49

Marlins-59

Nations-61

No surprises with the top two, no surprise that the Mets are nowhere near the top, not surprising the Nationals are at the bottom....the only difference between conventional thought and the final rankings is how low the Marlins are ranked.

NL East Preview Part I

Last but not least, the NL East:

Catcher:

Brian McCann-1

Carlos Ruiz-2

John Baker-3

Ivan Rodriguez-4

Rod Barajas-5

McCann wins this.....by a lot. The only catcher that you could definitely say is better than McCann is Joe Mauer. Since Joe Mauer plays in the AL Central, McCann is the #1 catcher in both the NL East and on Chedderhead. After McCann, it's the lesser of four evils....Ruiz has some decent upside but if he hasn't broken out already at 31 that's sort of a red light. I-Rod has had a great career and if we were talking about overall bodies of work he would be number 1 but he has seen better days. I could see Rod Barajas working out as a good signing, if he was a left handed hitter playing at Yankee Stadium. However, he ended up on a team that plays their home games at a stadium that suppresses his one strength (hitting home runs) which may explain how he ended up on my Razzball team.

First Base

1-Ryan Howard

2-Adam Dunn

3-Daniel Murphy

4-Troy Glaus

5-Gaby Sanchez

Howard continued to establish himself as one of the elite hitters in the game in 2009. I see no reason why this won't continue into the new decade. Adam Dunn has been and continues to be the Mr. 3TO.......Drawing Walks, Hitting Homers, Striking Out....Dunn has his game down to the basics. On name recognition, Glaus would get the nod over Murphy but a) it's tough to tell whether he will stay healthy all year and b) even if he is healthy, it's unclear whether he will return to form

Second Base

1-Chase Utley

2-Dan Uggla

3-Martin Prado

4-Adam Kennedy

5-Luis Castillo

Another position, another Phillies player amongst the elite of the game. Uggla has established himself as Adam-Dunn lite. Hits for a very pedestrian average, hits plenty of homers (30-ish but not as much as Dunn) he is drawing walks at an increased rate (14% vs. 18% for Dunn) but then again the power standards for second basemen is lower than for first baseman.

Shortstop

1-Hanley Ramirez

2-Jimmy Rollins

3-Yunel Escobar

4-Jose Reyes

5-Ian Desmond

One word.....LOADED. Han-Ram gives you 30-30 potential in any given year and makes a strong case for the best shortstop in the bigs (he even got drafted 1st overall in the league that Cheddarhead plays in). Yes, Jimmy Rollins had a rough season, it still seems odd that he won an MVP and doesn't draw very many walks. However, his struggles look to be linked to low BABIP and he should bounce-back strong in 2010. Escobar is a young talented player and will likely overtake Rollins as a player within a few years, I just don't think it happens this year. Jose Reyes is talented enough to be higher but with the injury problems he is facing/will inevitably face all year and the fact that the Mets fall back plan is Alex Cora, I can't really justify ranking him higher.

Third Base

1-Ryan Zimmerman

2-David Wright

3-Chipper Jones

4-Jorge Cantu

5-Placido Polanco

Seems to be a trend in the NL East where the best player by position is the best by a lot not a little. When that player happens to be the starting third baseman for Chedderhead, even better. Tough to tell what to expect out of David Wright in '10. He's still reliable to hit for a good average but whether his power remains at 2009 levels or returns to historical norms remains to be seen. His hr/fb% dropped last year which also coincided with moving to Citi Field. Too early to tell whether his power drop resulted just bad luck or the stadium. Regardless, this area of doubt is enough to drop him well behind Zimmerman but above Jones whose name recognition has overtaken production, Cantu who had one really good season and many indicators showing that his 2008 level of production is unlikely to replicate himself

Left Field

1-Josh Willingham

2-Raul Ibanez

3-Jason Bay

4-Matt Diaz

5-Chris Coghlan

An overall uninspiring group. I will always associate Josh Willingham as the guy who hit grand slams in consecutive innings off Jeff Suppan (making him single-handedly responsibility for my least favorite Brewers moment of the year). Given a chance to start he has a decent chance to go yard 30-35 times. Ibanez had a nice 2009....his home run totals were inflated by an abnormally high hr/fb ratio and had nothing to do with the weak steroid speculation or the bloggers that Ibanez thinks all live in their mothers basement. Jason Bay is a free agent bust waiting to happen. A combination of decreasing contact percentage (he dropped from 76% to 69% last year......only 3% away from becoming a Bill Hall All-Star) and moving to Citi Field where power goes to die.....a pretty good chance this goes down as another bad Mets contract before all is said and done.....also a generous ranking at 3rd....Also not sold on Coghlan replicating his Rookie of the Year Season.

Center Field

1-Nate McLouth

2-Carlos Beltran

3-Shane Victorino

4-Nyjer Morgan

5-Cameron Maybin

Another less than inspiring crop. McLouth is a decent player but definitely not a superstar. On talent and name-brand recognition Beltran should win this hands down but I have little to no faith in his ability to stay healthy. Victorino (like Bay) is a player i've never been too high on (being the same guy that hit a grand slam off C.C. Sabathia in the 2008 NLDS that made it official that the Brewers playoff appearance was only going to be a cameo don't help either) but get's the #3 spot by default. Not sold on Morgan replicating his strong 2009 season and not sold on Maybin.

Right Field

1-Jayson Werth

2-Cody Ross

3-Melky Cabrera

4-Elijah Dukes

5-Jeff Francoeur

Lost in all the Phillies firepower from players like Ibanez, Howard and Utley the fact that Werth hit 36 homers got lost in the mix. He comes back this year with an epic beard, a contract to play for and secondary numbers that indicate his power spike is legit....could he be dark horse MVP candidate.....not as crazy as it sounds. Cody Ross seems like a slighty improved version of Mike Cameron (at least as a hitter) slighty better average .260 range and 25 homers......but nothing that stands out....(well unless Ross hits 4 of said homers in a game or ever plays drunk and tells the media about it). Speaking of Mike Cameron, the player he almost (and thankfully) didn't get traded straight up for in the winter of 2008-2009 Cabrera gets the #3 spot mostly due to his competition being Dukes who seems determined to not live up to his talent and one of the members of my Razzball team, Jeff Francoeur.

Standings after Part I:

Phillies 17

Braves 22

Nationals 25

Marlins 27

Mets 29

The Mogul Chronicles: Season 1, Chapter 2: 2005 Marlins

So, yesterday I started premiered the Mogul Chronicles by beginning to see if things went differently whether a team would be able to build upon their year of glory. The maiden voyage started with the post-2003 Florida Marlins. The Marlins followed up their title in this universe with an 82-80 record, 1 win short of their real life equivalent......and now your 2005 "bizarro" Florida Marlins

1-Kenny Lofton CF

2-Luis Castillo 2B

3-Eric Hinske 3B

4-Miguel Cabrera LF

5-Hee Seop Choi 1B

6-Ramon Hernandez C

7-Chris Aguila RF

8-Jose Vizcaino SS

Bench:

Ryan Jorgensen

Damian Easley

Josh Willingham

Dan Uggla

Sean Burroughs

Abraham Nunez

Had some extra budget in the off-season and spent some money towards upgrading the line-up. The Bench is still fairly weak but more interesting. Willingham and Uggla will get their first extended looks and we get to see what they are made of on the bizarro Marlins.

Pitchers:

1- Josh Beckett

2-Carl Pavano

3-Dontrelle Willis

4-Brad Penny

5-Ricky Nolasco

Bullpen:

Armando Benitez-Closer

Rafael Soriano-Set Up

Chad Fox-Short Relief

Scott Schoenweis-Short Relief

Michael Tejera-Middle Relief

Josh Johnson-Long Relief

April 18: Josh Beckett out two weeks with lower strained back

Another year, another Josh Beckett injury. Not off to quickest start (1-0 4.00 era,4.72 DICE) but still not an easy loss. Overall, things are looking reasonably good as the Marlins are off to a 6-4 start.

May 18:

22-16 2 GB, Tied For Wild Card

Things looking pretty good. 38 games in the post-season is still a reality.

May 31: Brad Penny out 125 days with severe elbow tendinitis

Not an easy loss to absorb. There were high expectations for Penny but instead his season is pretty much done. Not the best season 2-1 4.79 era....but even that is attributed to bad luck as his DiCE was 3.73. Well, there's always '06. Gives Ricky Nolasco a second chance in the rotation and to bounce back from a rough couple of months.

On a general note, the back end of May didn't go so hot as the Marlins slip to 25-24 falling 4 1/2 back in east and 2 in wild card.

June 4: Kenny Lofton out 25 days with ankle stress fracture

Lofton was signed to solidify the lead off spot and has done just that to tune of 303-4-17 .358/.452. For now, lead off spot is downgraded to Luis Castillo as the Marlins struggle to stay above .500 (27-26)

June 12: Eric Hinske out 172 days with torn ankle ligament

Second time in less than two weeks a free agent acquisition from previous winter is lost to injury. His production of .296/.367/.509 will be missed and will make it easier for opposing teams to pitch around Miguel Cabrera. Sean Burroughs gets a chance to show that he is capable of being more than a throw in to the Pierre-Hernandez trade. 32-28 4 GB NL East, 1 GB Wild Card.

July 4: Miguel Cabrera out 26 Days with Wrist Stress Fracture

Things had been going so good in June only for the worst case scenario to occur on the 4th of July. The Fightin Fish are going to come together and at least tread water without their anchor of Cabrera for four weeks. His .331/.418/.582 production not being in the line-up is a huge blow to this team. Josh Willingham gets a chance to prove himself in Cabrera's place. 45-35 1.5 GB NL East, Leads Wild Card by 1 game.

July 26: A.J. Burnett out 16 days with Strained Knee

Despite the losses to the lineup (Hinske and Cabrera) the Marlins are steam-rolling through July. Not only have the Marlins taken the NL East lead, they have opened up a comfortable 6 game lead. Burnett has had bad luck this year going 6-6 with a 6.30 era (3.95 DiCE)

July 27: Chris Aguila out 16 days with foot stress fracture

Another day, another injury. Aguila has had a rough year, if the Marlins can survive Cabrera's injury i'm sure they should survive this injury.

August 7: Dontrelle Willis out 18 days with sprained finger

Willis has another mediocre year (7-8 4.93 era interrupted by injury). The division lead is up to 7 games and the rotation now has two rookies (Scott Olsen and Jason Vargas) back-ending it.

August 26: Jose Vizcaino out 17 days with sprained knee

The third free agent acquisition to get injured this year. He's been a non factor offensive .222/.279/.269. I'm definitely glad he only got signed to a one year deal. Rookie Josh Wilson gets his first crack at the big leagues due to the injury. Division lead is at 6 games.

September 14: Ricky Nolasco out 17 days with foot stress fracture

An already thin starting rotation loses another starter. A disappointing season (4-10 5.36 era gets even worse). Division lead is down to 4 1/2

October 3: Jose Vizcaino out 106 days with torn knee ligament

And thus his stint with the bizarro Marlins comes to an end. At this point, just finishing out the schedule until the playoffs.

October 6:

The Marlins may be at 7 years and counting for the playoffs since making the playoffs in real life, but in this Mogul Universe it only took a couple of seasons. The bizarro Marlins end the season at 90-72 (7 games better than their real life equivalent).

NLDS vs Cardinals:

Marlins lose in 4 games to the Cards. The post-season may have been a disappointment but this virtual team gained some post-season experience and showed that they are capable of being amongst the elites in the league.

Milestones:

June 18: Luis Castillo- 300th career steal

The closest to a remarkable moment of a fairly ordinary season .283-1-44.

All Stars:

Miguel Cabrera .308/22/98

Carl Pavano 15-9 3.63 era

Rafael Soriano 7-5 2.04 era 4 saves

Cabrera had a strong year and finally got recognized as an All-Star. Pavano had a solid season and picking up Soriano to serve in the set-up role looked to be a very smart move. All 3 were first time All-Stars

Best Hitter: Miguel Cabrera

Surprise: Sean Burroughs .324-3-47

Buzz Kill: Jose Vizcaino .210-1-38

Best Pitcher: Carl Pavano

Surprise: Josh Johnson 8-4 3.14 era

Buzz Kill: Ricky Nolasco 4-10 5.36 era

Burroughs stepped up to fill the void at third after Hinske went down for the year. Vizcaino was the one free agent aquisation that did not work as planned.

Josh Johnson made his debut as a 21-year old and showed a glimpse of the future. Nolasco followed up his strong rookie audition by enduring a pretty nasty sophomore slump. Till next time.......PLAY BALL

The Mogul Chronicles: Season 1, Chapter 1: 2004 Marlins

We start off this experiment adventure to see if the Florida Marlins would have been able to maintain their high level of play after upsetting the Yankees in the 2003 World Series. Why? Because, that's why. The chronically cash-strapped Marlins beating up the team that bought a World Series title. That and the last game is fresh on my mind since the game replay was on MLB Network last night.

Disclaimer: The game settings are set, to slightly tweak from reality and to give a bit of a more level playing field. I set the options to equalize cities to control the difficulty a little bit. Game simulations will be in one month intervals or when a player gets injured for 14 + days (whichever one comes first)

2004 Florida Marlins Real Life Record: 83-79

Organization Rankings:

Farm System (2nd)

Scouting (1oth)

Medical (14th)

Salary (20th)

Starting Lineup:

1-Juan Pierre- CF

2-Luis Castillo- 2B

3-Mike Lowell-3B

4-Miguel Cabrera-LF

5-Jeff Conine-1B

6-Mike Redmond-C

7-Alex Gonzalez-SS

8-Chris Aguila-RF

Bench:

Ramon Castro

Wil Cordero

Abraham Nunez

Damion Easley

Lenny Harris

Pretty light offensively. Pierre and Castillo are players who would be more useful if they ever made it legal to steal first. Conine is a bit over the hill. Mike Redmond is great against Tom Glavine, not so much against everyone else. That is more than you can say about Gonzales and Aguila. If these bizarro-Marlins have any hope of contending, Lowell and Cabrera will need to step up. The Bench leaves a lot to be desired.

Pitching Staff

Starting Rotation:

1-Josh Beckett

2-Brad Penny

3-Carl Pavano

4-Dontrelle Willis

5-A.J. Burnett

Not bad....not bad at all. With the pedestrian offense, the rotation needs to justify the hype.

Bullpen:

Closer- Armando Benitez

Set Up- Chad Fox

Short Relief- Toby Borland

Short Relief- Matt Lindstrom

Middle Relief- Michael Tejera

Long Relief- Darren Oliver

Nothing to write home about. This team only goes as far as the rotation, Cabrera and Lowell takes them........now time for some games.

May 1:

Record 12-10

2nd place 2 GB of Atlanta

1 GB Houston and Milwaukee for Wild Card

Trade:

Juan Pierre to Padres for Ramon Hernandez and Sean Burroughs

It looks like there isn't enough room for two light hitters in my line-up. Juan Pierre moves cross-country. For now, there is a downgrade at center field to Abraham Nunez. Ramon Hernandez is an upgrade at catcher for the Marlins. He's 27, has more pop in his bat than Redmond and gives some protection in the 5-spot behind Cabrera. Sean Burroughs is 23, a young but unproven talent at this point. Since third is already accounted for with Mike Lowell, his role for the Marlins is to strengthen the bench.

May 31:

27-23 3 GB Atlanta, 3rd Place

2 GB Philadelphia for Wild Card

May wasn't great, May wasn't terrible. May was more about treading water than anything else. Ramon Hernandez had a hot start for the Marlins and a big part of the Marlins keeping pace in May (.402/.444/.707). Thus far Burroughs (4 for 17) has been a non-factor.

June 1: Amateur Draft

1-Billy Butler-1B

2-Chuck Dawson-P

3-Pedro Encina-P

4-Stew Porter-P

5-Jaime Alfinec-CF

6-Share Kregar-RF

Pretty uninspiring except for Butler, not expecting too much out of this crop.

June 5: Josh Beckett goes down for two weeks with a dislocated shoulder.

Definitely a set-back for this team. Beckett followed up his epic 2003 post-season by starting 6-2 2.82 era.

29-25

3rd place 2 1/2 behind Atlanta

2 GB Cincinnati Wild Card

June 20: Toby Borland out 26 Days with Ankle Stress Fracture

He may not have a higher profile than Beckett and expectations are lower for him than Beckett, but Borland has had a positive impact on the bullpen thus far. He has been 2-0 with 2.73 era in 27 games (most games he's pitched in a season since 1996)

Record 36-31

3rd place 5 1/2 GB Philadelphia

5 1/2 behind Cincinnati for Wild Card

June has been unkind to this team, they are slowly losing their grip on the season and they need to get hot soon to be in the post-season discussion.

July 20:

Record 47-45

4th place 6 1/2 GB Philadelphia

8 GB Houston for Wild Card

Good News: The Marlins went a month without any injuries

Bad News: The Marlins treaded water losing a game in the NL East (plus a drop from 3rd to 4th). Also, the Wild Card is more or less a pipe dream as they are 8 games out of the Wild Card.

August 8:

Armando Benitez out 22 Days with chipped Knee Cap

A bigger loss on paper than in reality. He is 5-6 3.08 era on the season but this is a bit misleading. He has blown a ghastly 8 saves and when you factor out defense he has a DICE almost twice as high at 5.90. Chad Fox takes over closer duties while Benitez is out, if Fox does well enough, Benitez could become trade bait

55-55 5th place 12 GB Philadelphia

6 1/2 Behind Atlanta for Wild Card

110 games into their title defense, the Marlins find themselves in dead last. In all fairness, the NL East has been pretty tough. On the bright side, they have chipped away at the wild card by getting to within 6 1/2 of the Wild Card. There is still hope, just not much.

August 20: Alex Gonzales out two weeks with sprained kneck

Adequate defender, offensively inept. .254/.293/.352. It's a good thing his contract is off the books after '04. Mike Mordecai takes over temporarily

62-58 4th place 10 1/2 GB

5 GB of Wild Card

September looks to be interesting, let's see how this unravels.

September 3: Jeff Conine out 17 days with Pulled Groin

Conine is up there in years (38) but still a capable player to the tune of .275/.336/.436 with 14 Homers and 67 RBIs. Wil Cordero .229/.282/.346 takes over for now. Cordero needs to improve like two months ago.

67-67 4th place 10 GB

8 1/2 GB of Wild Card

Time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping, into the future............

September 7: Brad Penny out 45 Days with dislocated hip

Brad Penny's season ends here (barring a miracle run). Even in this bizarro universe win-loss records are useless. Despite a 3.80 era and 3.20 DICE and nearly a 3:1 K/BB rate, he had little run support and a 9-13 record. Time for Penny to recover for the injury, can't wait to see him contribute in '05. In the meantime, 21-year old Ricky Nolasco gets an extended audition in the rotation.

October 6:

Record 82-80 4th place 9 GB Philadelphia

6 1/2 GB San Francisco for Wild Card

Well, the first season has come and gone. So far, this parallel universe is close to reflecting reality (one more win IRL) has the Marlins showing that they at least can compete.

Milestones:

Armando Benitez 200th Save (May 1)

Miguel Cabrera 22-Game Hitting Streak (June 7)

Miguel Cabrera 23-Game Hitting Streak (September 1)

Luckily for Benitez, the don't track blown saves mile stones (he had 10). Cabrera began to show his potential by going on a couple extended hot-streaks. Despite not being an All-Star, Cabrera celebrated his 21st to the tune of .286/.362/.514 and 35 homers.

All-Stars:

Ramon Hernandez: 2nd All-Star .298-15-63 .356/.440

Hernandez came over from San Diego in the Juan Pierre trade. Carried a hot start in Florida to become the Marlins lone All-Star Representative.

Best Hitter: Miguel Cabrera

Surprise: Chris Agulia .292-9-55 .345/.420

Disappointment: Mike Lowell .269-15-80 .336/.424

Best Pitcher: Josh Beckett 13-6 3.07 era

Surprise: Ricky Nolasco 2-2 1.96 era 2 saves

Disappointment: Dontrelle Willis 10-14 4.35 era

Cabrera followed up the strong promise of his rookie year by showing he was the real deal. Agulia seemed nothing more than filler at the bottom of the line-up. I expected nothing out of him but he proved he could play. Lowell wasn't that bad but considering how thin the Marlins offense was, he was expected to step up bigger than he ded.

Beckett lost time to injury but still had a strong year. Nolasco made his debut in '04. He pitched well out of the bullpen and showed that he has a bright future in this league. Like Lowell, Willis wasn't bad per se but considering his strong rookie year, expectations were much higher than reality for the Marlins.

Well, that ends the pilot episode of this series, hopefully this idea works out. If not, at least I gave it a shot