Pitchers and catchers cannot report soon enough for millions of baseball fans, as the 2015 season will be among the most highly anticipated in Major League Baseball history. The hot stove was never hotter than it was this past offseason with multiple big time moves that will change the face of the game and the expectations of many teams. A strong argument can be made that the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres came out as the best of the best but with that comes the pressure of high expectations.
Cubs emerge out of Hibernation
It has taken longer than what was expected but Theo Epstein, the mastermind of the resurgence of the Boston Red Sox, is now making his mark with the Chicago Cubs. The talent upgrade is now taking shape and Epstein further improved the Cubs with the hiring of the best manager in baseball Joe Maddon. Maddon should prove to be the perfect fit as he did more with less as the manager of the Tampa Bay Rays than perhaps any manager in baseball history.
Maddon has the credibility of schooling young and talented players into winners which is what he will be tasked to do with the Cubs. Youngsters Kris Bryant and Jorge Soler should thrive under Maddon’s tutelage and the addition of left hand ace Jon Lester was yet another statement maker by the Cubs that they are “all in” for 2015.
Padres Awaken Apathetic Fan Base
The beautiful city of San Diego long ago forgot about its Padres and understandably so. With so many great options on what to do with a perfect day, wasting three hours plus on boring generic baseball would be near the bottom of the list. But no more. New general manager AJ Preller has had an offseason that would make former Padre GM “Trader Jack” McKeon proud. Preller has fulfilled the role of Santa Claus with the acquisitions of Matt Kemp, Wil Myers, Justin Upton, and Derek Norris.
True, the Padres now have an overload of outfielders but that will likely mean even more potential deals to be done. San Diego, who has been one of the weakest offensive production teams in the game now has a power packed lineup with slots three through seven in the batting order promising to give opposing pitchers and their managers plenty of worry.
A lineup that will include Myers, Kemp, Upton, Norris and Yonder Alonso creates plenty of potential. Now the Padre pitching staff, which has long been an asset that has gone to waste due to a lack of run support, will no longer have to bear the burden of carrying the team.
White Sox end Blackout
The Cubs will not be the only team garnering headlines in the city of Chicago as the White Sox have also been busy upgrading their team. The White Sox will be a force to be reckoned with in the American League Central. Jeff Samardzija, Melky Cabrera, David Robertson, and Adam LaRoche highlight one of the most improved rosters in the game. Robertson gives the White Sox bullpen immediate credibility as a top closer while Samardzija will pair with Chris Sale to make for one of the best one-two starting pitching combinations in the game.
Red Sox Resurgence
Red Sox nation rejoiced like kids on Christmas morning with the acquisition of Pablo Sandoval, who was a major contributor to the San Francisco Giants winning two out of the last three World Series titles. Sandoval is the epitome of a clutch performer with a .344/.389/.545 batting mark in his post season career.
No A’s for Billy
Meanwhile the Oakland A’s and “Moneyball” genius Billy Beane are being written off for dead after a plethora of offseason moves that have made even the most ardent Beane disciples feeling doomed. Beane dealt five out of the seven all stars on his roster while acquiring a load of prospects including a talented corps of pitchers. Beane did a similar blowup of the A’s three years ago and defied the naysayers. Before pronouncing the green and gold dead it should be noted that nobody confounds the experts better than Billy Beane.
After a spectacular hot stove season everyone agrees that spring training cannot arrive soon enough. A majority of Major League Baseball cities will have a dog in the 2015 playoff hunt.
