The Offseason in Review

With pitchers and catchers reporting to their camps this week, I thought it would be a good time to sit back and take a look at what each team did to better themselves in the offseason. This past offseason was an active one, with many key players changing teams either through trades or free agency. The free agents who remain will most likely fill in spots in rosters that may be a bit thin so now would be a great time to review how player movement has affected each of the 30 major league teams.

Each of the reviews will begin with a synopsis of how the team performed in the 2007 season. This will include my thoughts on their best hitter and pitcher. Following that will be a review of the new additions of the team. To make it easier to compare, I will rank the additions on a scale from 5 down to 1. The rankings will be determined as follows:

1. A team will get a 1 ranking if their only additions will end up hurting their team, whether it be in the short or long term
2. Not as bad as a 1 ranking, scoring a 2 would mean the players added may still end up hurting the team's performance
3. If the additions a team makes will neither positively or negatively effect their team's performance (only minor additions, bench players, average players, etc.)
4. If a team made significant moves in the offseason, they would score a 4
5. This score would be reserved for big additions to a team that will change the outcome of the upcoming season

Following a review of the additions a team made, their new lineup and pitching rotation will also be scored. For the projected 2008 rosters, I will be using ESPN's Hot Stove homepage. The basic idea of the scoring for these ares will follow as such:

1. Hitters: There are no threats in the lineup; Pitchers: None of the 1-5 starters fit into projected rotation results (will be explained below)
2. Both for the lineup and rotation, this score will be for a team with one standout player surrounded by otherwise average or below average players
3. A completely average lineup, the sort that will be enough to win some games, but no real firepower to carry a team
4. This is where a team starts to look interesting. The 1-5 pitchers start to show some real life and the hitters could easily change the course of a game
5. Scoring a 5 would mean having a dangerous lineup, from 1-9. Likewise for the pitchers

A note on what I will be looking for with pitchers. I heard Steve Phillips explain once what he tried to do when putting a rotation together back when he was the GM of the Mets. He said he looked for certain results from his 1-5 pitchers. From his number one pitcher, he looked for about 10 more wins than losses. This could be 14-4 or 20-10, as long as their was that 10 game differential. From his number two pitcher, he wanted 7 more wins than losses. Number three was 5, then a difference of 3 from the number four pitcher, and finally an even record from his number five pitcher.

While in reality, this sort of win differential from a rotation would be very hard to compile, it does have its uses when reviewing a team's rotation. For example, Baltimore has Daniel Cabrera slated as its number one pitcher going into the 2008 season. Last year Cabrera was 9-18 and he has never had a record better than 12-8. Placing him into that framework shows that the Orioles might not have the top of the rotation starter they would be looking for.

After grading the additions, lineups, and rotations, the team review will conclude with a couple of final thoughts on the upcoming season. What to look for, breakout candidates, and the like will finish off the team's offseason in review. The first team on the block will either be the Arizona Diamondbacks or the Washington Nationals, at which point I will work my way alphabetically through all 30 teams. I guess that all depends on whether I want to start with a great team or a team with little hope of getting out of last place in their division (any guesses which is which?)