30 Teams in 30 Days

Cincinnati Reds:  Dusty Baker's Doing His Best To Ruin This Group Of Youngsters

(Over the next 30 days, BERNing on Sports will be previewing every team in the Majors, yes, even the Royals. Only one a day, every day, so try not to get too hooked)

Keeping it Real

Brandon Phillips, at 27, is one of the elder statesmen of this year's Cincy Reds.  Gone are the Griffeys and Dunns and Sabos (wrong year?).  Surrounding Phillips are a crop of young players including Jay Bruce, Joey Votto, Edinson Volquez, and Johnny Cueto (who sounds like he should have his own comic book).  The problem is, they're just not ready to put it all together right this minute.  Combine that with a bunch of players that are either middling veteran players with significant holes in their games (Willy Taveras, Jerry Hairston Jr., Ramon Hernandez) or simply veteran players that have lost their touch in recent years (Aaron Harang, Bronson Arroyo).  It makes for an odd (read:  under .500) bunch, no?  Thing is, Volquez is for real, he just ran into a wall last year as many pitchers do in their first years.  Cueto, though his numbers wouldn't suggest it, is absolutely filthy.  He could put it all together this year, and I wouldn't be surprised.  Bruce had a great start to his MLB career, but really tailed off.  The adjustments he makes will be interesting to see after the league adjusted to him.  And finally, Phillips, after a down year across the board, will need to regain some of his swag if this team's going to be as powerful (offensively at least) as it could be.  Maybe it's just the hope that Spring seems to bring every year for bad teams across this great nation, but it's hard for me to be too down on this team, if only on potential for growth.

Why Does It Seem Like There's Always A Million Outfielders On This Team

Because there are.  Over the years, three of the guys that were breaking in were Adam Dunn and Austin Kearns and Wily Mo Pena (all of whom miraculously find themselves on the Nationals now...Jim Bowden, you dog!).  Throw in that Ryan Freel was at one point serviceable and Griff was around too, and you had a verifiable logjam in the outfield that never (and hasn't) cleared up.  Now, you've got Bruce and Taveras in right and center, which is fine.  Battling for left, not as clear cut.  There's Hairston, and then a whole other list of cast-offs, including Jacque Jones, Jonny Gomes, and Laynce Nix (remember when he was supposed to be good?).  Now, it's not nearly as cluttered as it was back in the day (say, 2005), but it's still not clear. 

You Can't Teach Speed (or How To Get On-Base, apparently)

Willy Taveras, despite an incredible dislike of getting on base consistently (or even hitting the ball in fair play and reaching base safely consistently) finds himself not only on another major league team this year, but starting in center field, and leading off.  Why?  Because the man can flat out swipe bags, Lloyd McLendon-style.  More impressive than leading the league in steals (did anyone other than Rockies personnel know about this?), he was only caught 7 times (career percentage of over 80 percent is damn good).  So, while Taveras wages his own personal campaign against Billy Beane and the moneyball-driven obsession with OBP, we can all just sit back and watch a man that really can run.  And that's about it.

Aaron Harang Swears He Really Isn't As Bad As He Was Last Year

How in the hell do you go from winning 16 games to losing 17 in one year?  How in the hell do you have three straight years with an under 4 ERA, in a pitcher's park, logging over 200 innings each year, to an ERA near 5 in under 200 innings?  How?  Forearm problems?  Weight issues?  No one is quite sure what went wrong in 2008 for Harang, but he did lose some weight and appears to be over any nagging injuries from the year prior.  Was last year a sign of wear and tear and ultimate decline, or is he going to revert back to the reliable fantasy pitcher we all know and love.  Not that I drafted him last year and held on to him for way too long as he killed me each and every week.  Not that I did that, or anything...

Bold Predictions

Homer Bailey will get his last real shot this year with the Stockings.  And while he won't be Roger Clemens (as he was touted to be) he will be serviceable (as he has never been) throughout this year.

Johnny Cueto will be over .500 this year, and while he won't be nearly as consistent as everyone would like, he will make a huge leap forward this year.  I'm saying at least 4 or 5 more wins than last year, and an ERA right next to the number 4.

Two quickies:  NO way on Earth Hairston lasts in LF til the All-Star Game (injury or inability, your choice), and Ramon Hernandez will again approach 25 bombs in a friendly hitter's park.

Up Next...Tuesday, Brewers

30 Teams In 30 Days

Baltimore Orioles: No Sign Of Cal Ripken Here
(Over the next 30 days, BERNing on Sports will be previewing every team in the Majors, yes, even the Royals. Only one a day, every day, so try not to get too hooked)

Where Former Cubs Prospects Go to Die

When Andy MacPhail took over as Orioles President of Baseball Operations, a post he held with the Cubs for more than a decade, apparently he decided if it wasn't bad enough that the Orioles were losing, he could make things worse by collecting failed former Cubs. It started when he traded Mike Fontenot and Jerry Hairston Jr. to Chicago's north side for an aging and decrepit Sammy Sosa in 2005. But it didn't end there. Then they picked up the miserable Corey Patterson who wasn't much for them in Center Field except for a base stealer for two seasons. Now, the Orioles opening day roster will likely feature three former Cubs, as Felix Pie (a.k.a. the Patterson reincarnate), failed lefty starter Rich Hill (Rick Ankiel in the pitcher form) and Cesar Izturis (good defense, can't field). Aren't you excited, O's fans? Didn't think so.

At Least This Team Can Field...

Because its line-up is questionable, to say the least. Sure, they've locked up Nick Markakis and Brian Roberts to long term contracts so they'll be mainstays at Camden for the next few years. But to expect Aubrey Huff to repeat last year's performance would really be asking a lot. He was a monster last year, hitting .304 with 32 homers and 108 RBI. But prior to last year he hadn't hit .300 or better since 2003, and hadn't eclipsed the 30 homer mark since that year either. Furthermore, he hadn't hit more than 15 homers in a season in either of the three years prior to last. So he's a question mark. Melvin Mora will need another great year for the O's to contend too. Although like Huff, Mora's numbers spiked last year after a couple of sub-par years prior. Don't expect much offense from Pie, Izturis or backstop Gregg Zaun, and while Adam Jones should eventually be a good hitter he's probably still a year or two away. Baltimore scored the eighth most runs in the AL last year. But unless their pitching is great, which it likely won't be (more on that shortly), in an extremely tough division they can't afford to lack contributions from anyone in the lineup.

Thankfully, the Nationals can deal with Daniel Cabrera now...

But the Orioles starting rotation still doesn't look good. And by doesn't look good, I mean, it stinks. Jeremy Guthrie is the best guy in this group, and while his record wouldn't show it he's a pretty good pitcher. Not a top of the rotation guy on a contending team, but a solid pitcher nonetheless. The Orioles have brought in Japanese import Koji Uehara to try to bolster the group, but as I've said before, you never know what these guys will do when they face major league hitters. Radhames Liz has a great name, but he's bad. And if you're banking on Rich Hill to bounce back from inexplicably dreadful pitching last year with the Cubs, he likely won't, because there's something between his ears that won't allow him to reach his potential. Finally, if major league baseball were going to start an NBA franchise Mark Hendrickson could be the team's starting center. But he's not much of a pitcher. With George Sherrill and Chris Ray returning from injury in the 'pen, the Orioles won't have too much problem closing games. The question is, can their starters get them there? Probably not.

At Least the Future Is Bright...

If you haven't heard of him yet, you will soon. Last year's 2nd overall pick Matt Wieters was recently named the top prospect in baseball by Baseball America, with Rays phenom David Price ranked number two. He's a switch-hitting catcher who can absolutely mash, and last year was named Baseball America's Minor League Player of the Year, as he hit .355 with 27 home runs and 91 RBI and boasted a whopping .454 on base percentage and a .600 slugging percentage. He could be in the majors at some point this year, and could eventually along with Markakis be the face of the Orioles franchise for years to come. It'll be fun to watch the O's play once Wieters lands in bird land.

Bold Prediction
If Matt Wieters is called up soon enough, he'll be the American League Rookie of the Year.

Up next...Friday, Mets.