YEAR 2002
PLAYER RANKINGS

      Welcome to the 2002 Player Rankings. Actually, they are more like Team Rankings, the best at each position in each league. I admit that it is all entirely subjective; I haven't used any system for coming up with the rankings. As such, I don't claim that they are 100% correct. And to be honest, it doesn't really whether I think that Mo Vaughn is a better player than Eric Karros; I just like to write about baseball players, and I like to make up lists, and here I get to do both. I hope you enjoy them as well.

     It's been a simple task the past few seasons, pencilling in the order of finish in the AL East. Yankees on top, followed by Boston; Toronto third, either a little above or below .500, followed by a gradually declining Baltimore team. And then Tampa Bay, bringing up the rear. No one, I think, is expecting any different this season, except that Baltimore has a real chance of being worse than Tampa. Some people think that Boston has enough firepower to challenge the Yankees... but that's a bit like saying that you think the moon will turn green tomorrow. If you're right, you're a genius; if you're wrong, no one notices or cares.

     True, a healthy roster will make Boston a tough team to beat. But I kind of like my Blue Jays' chances of finishing ahead of Boston. The Red Sox, for all their talent, still have the stench of last season's horrible finish hanging over them. Beyond Pedro, their rotation isn't all that strong (John Burkett? Frank Castillo?). There's also no guarantee that Pedro and Nomar will be able to stay healthy all year. To the credit of the new management team, they have made the changes that had to be made (i.e. getting rid of Everett, Duquette and Kerrigan). John Henry will soon discover, however, that their is more pressure to win in Beantown than there is in Florida.

     The Blue Jays have been stuck in third place for four straight seasons, and moving up or down in the standings will be a tough job. They are clearly better than Tampa Bay and Baltimore, but clearly not as good as New York or Boston. This reality cost GM Gord Ash his job; after courting a number of high-profile GMs, they ended up hiring unknown J.P. Ricciardi, who didn't waste any time in dumping some veterans The feeling here in Toronto as that this team is rebuilding, and that hustling young kids will be its greatest virtue.
     This is probably true, but I'm a little more optimistic than most. For one thing, you've got to love the unbalanced schedule. The Jays may be young and inexperienced, but the Orioles and Devil Rays should be much worse. Even the Red Sox, who have killed the Blue Jays the past few years, likely won't be so tough. So I'm predicting a .500 season, and perhaps a chance at second place if the Red Sox implode.

     Here's a question: what could prevent the Orioles from losing 100 games? Help from the farm? If there is anyone in Rochester who can help the Orioles, no one is talking about them. The return of wounded warriors? Pat Hentgen, Scott Erickson and Albert Belle are all under contract, but are all longshots to contribute in 2002. They could beat up on Tampa, I suppose, except that the Devil Rays will be a little better than they have been in past years. Not a lot, but a little.
     The Devil Rays, by the way, have earned themselves their own movie; consolation, I suppose, for being one of the worst teams in baseball history. The Rookie, about high school teacher phenom Jim Morris, opens this spring. The film was made by Disney, who own the Angels; why would the folks at Disney make a film about a Tampa player and not, say, Jim Abbott?
     And while we're tossing around real-life movie ideas, how come nobody ever made a movie about Bo Jackson? I understand that Bo has been doing some acting lately; he could play himself.

     A letdown for the White Sox was inevitable last year. Teams that make a big improvement from one year to the next usually take a step back, and sure enough, the Sox struggled early in 2001. But even after a 14-29 start, and after losing Frank Thomas and David Wells to injury, they recovered and had a winning record. This year, the Big Hurt will be back; I think that the White Sox are in much better shape this spring than either the Indians or Twins, and I expect that they will win their division.

     Speaking of the Indians... what the hell happened to their roster? The new GM claims to be rebuilding, but I fail to see who they are rebuilding around. Matt Lawton? Ricky Gutierrez? Brady Anderson? The Indians have lost a lot of good players over the past few years, but have always done a remarkable job of replacing lost talent. That doesn't seem to be the case this year; apart from acquiring some mediocre prospects like Milton Bradley and Alex Escobar, there doesn't seem to be much rebuilding going on. Vizquel, Fryman and Burks are getting old fast. The pitching staff has some solid citizens, but also some major holes; it's hard to imagine that this team could compete with Chicago in 2002.

     The wild card in the AL West is Minnesota. They made a surprising run at the playoffs last season, coming up short in the end. They have some interesting players and a wonderful starting rotation, but can they compete with Chicago? Likely not; I'm sure that the players want very much to win, but that's not true of ownership. It's tough to have confidence in a team when the owner tries to destroy it during the winter. And I'm sure that Tom Kelly got the message loud and clear before he left. The Twins have some of the elements of a good team, but they need some help, and they're likely not going to get it.

     After the Hall Of Fame balloting, there was some sentiment here in Toronto that Jack Morris deserved to be inducted. He was a villain for many years with Detroit and Minnesota, then became a good guy (sort of) when he signed in 1992 with the Jays.
     I would not have voted for Morris, but he was an icon of a bygone era, the days when the Tigers actually meant something. The team that exists today has been toothless for such a long time, with apparently little hope of improving in the near future, that they are sad to watch. Or even to write about. My Blue Jays aren't exactly what they once were, but at least they are a heck of a lot better than the Tigers.
     What good things can you say about the Tigers? Their manager hasn't had a winning season since George Herbert Walker Bush was President. Their lineup is a bland mixture of fading veterans and castoffs from other teams. Their pitching staff has a couple of kids who can fire the ball, and a couple of veterans who might be able to help out. They're may not be as bad as Tampa Bay, but they are more depressing.

     Even more depressing than the Tigers are the Royals. I used to really like this team, and two years ago I thought they were on the verge of good season. Now they are a disaster. Management has no hope of winning, otherwise they would have fired Tony Muser. Instead, Terrible Tony will again be at the helm of a ship that has already sunk.
     The big acquisitions this winter were Chuck Knoblauch and Michael Tucker. You can stick a fork in Knoblauch, and Tucker is just an expensive fourth outfielder who can't help a team like this. Strangely enough, the Royals do have a pair of MVP candidates, in Sweeney and Beltran. But the rest of the lineup is weak and the starting rotation is a mess.
     Maybe Dee Brown will have a breakout year. Maybe Knoblauch will play better. How many things have to go right for the Royals to avoid losing 90 games? It's a sad reality.
     I suggest that Royals' fans pour their energies to other pursuits (not including the Bo Jackson movie). How about a campaign to get Ewing Kaufman into the Hall Of Fame? How many owners have had as positive an influence on the game as Kaufman had?

     So, who's the best of the West? The Mariners and Athletics both won over 100 games last year, only to be embarrassed in the playoffs by the New Yorkers. The Mariners won a remarkable 116 games after losing their three best players. But they were good and they got real lucky and everything clicked until that final, fateful series. They will decline in 2002; the question is, by how much?
     The good news is that they didn't lose anyone important except Aaron Sele, who will be missed during the season but not in the playoffs. Seattle fans should also expect continued excellence from Ichiro, Olerud, Cameron, Garcia and the bullpen. The bad news is that we can probably expect a sizable decline from Bret Boone, and for age to start to creep up on Edgar Martinez and Jamie Moyer. I still think they will win the divison.
     One odd addition for 2002: Ruben Sierra. Ruben was fine last year, but he doesn't strike me as a Pat Gillick-type of player. But hey, when your team wins 116 games, you can do whatever you want.

     The Oaklands have a very strong starting rotation, a solid bullpen, and good players at almost every position. They are missing one thing: their MVP, Jason Giambi. They can't replace him, but they can try to minimize the loss. The Athletics will look to both old (David Justice) and young (Carlos Pena) to fill the void in the lineup; Justice could have done it a couple of years ago, and Pena may be able to do it a couple of years from now, but whether either will be an adequate replacement in 2002 is a question mark. Ultimately, look for either Eric Chavez or Jermaine Dye or both to step up and become leaders of this club; if those guys produce, then this team should at least take the wild card.

     So, who's the most dysfunctional team in the West? Would that be Anaheim or Texas? I actually kind of like the Angels, despite the meddling ownership and the sour words between Troy Percival and Mo Vaughn. They have a lot of good players, including two (Glaus and Erstad) who are bound to have much better seasons, and some very good pitchers; if they can keep Percival and Salmon healthy and find someone to play first base, then they could challange for the wild card. And I wouldn't put too much stock in the profane comments of Vaughn, who trashed the team without explaining his own performance.
     And then there's Texas; the Rangers, as you know, have added such colourful/disgraceful personalities as Carl Everett and John Rocker to their roster. They also signed glove-pincher Ruben Rivera, who will again be paid a considerable amount of money to waste his considerable talent. On the other hand, John Hart has to be given credit for rebuilding a miserable pitching staff into something that should be at least a little better in 2002. If this team can hold together, they could cause some problems this season... but I still expect them to finish last in the West.

     Man, was I ever glad that the Braves didn't make it to the World Series. I thought they were going to beat Arizona, and we all know that they would have gotten their asses kicked by the Yankees. As it turns out, they did us a favour by bumbling and stumbling and bobbling their way to an embarrassing defeat against the Diamondbacks.
     Having said that, I still admire the Braves for winning ten straight division titles. I like Bobby Cox and Maddux and Glavine and Chipper Jones, and I would not at all be upset if they were to win another championship. As long as they don't embarrass themselves again, because I'm tired of watching them do that.
     John Schuerholz finally pulled the trigger on a big deal, acquiring Gary Sheffield from the Dodgers. Already, the Braves are being touted as favourites to return to the World Series, but let's face it: Sheffield has had such a curious and unpredictable career that we have no idea what kind of impact he will have. He might get hurt or start to pout or demand a trade or something like that. Or he could have "the season", hit 60 homers and win the MVP and carry the team into October. He's that type of player.

     And then there is that curious franchise known as the Mets. The Mets had a hyperactive off-season, turning over half their roster after a disappointing season in 2001. The good news is that they stole Roberto Alomar from Cleveland; Robbie is still one of the elite players in the game, and that deal alone could propel the Mets into the playoffs if Piazza stays true to form and Alfonzo rebounds. But the other moves... there doesn't seem to be much of a method behind the madness. Vaughn and Burnitz are both about ready to have a fork stuck in them; Cedeno isn't exactly a big improvement on Shinjo; Astacio had a torn labrum repaired during the winter. They're still counting a lot on John Franco, who is 42 years old. The front-line talent is awesome, but the rest of the team is uninspiring and even a little depressing.

     Philadelphia had a good season in 2001, recovering nicely from a nightmare the year before. They had no business losing 97 games in 2000, so a better season was in order, but they overachieved thanks in large part to a surprising bullpen. They're probably not going to do as well this year, though they have some factors in their favour. They have lots of good young players on their roster who are still improving; they will be getting Mike Lieberthal back from injury; and they're not in a very tough division. If the bullpen holds together and their key players (especially Rolen) stay healthy, they should be able to give the Braves some problems.

     The Florida Marlins lost their owner (who now owns the Red Sox), and picked up a new one (who used to own the Expos), but I'm not sure if they got the better end of the deal. The best thing, I think, that can be said about Jeffrey Loria's tenure as the owner in Montreal is that the team didn't fold. Then again, the best thing that can be said about John Henry's ownership of the Marlins is, well, the team didn't fold.
     Loria brought with him the management team that led the Expos to a last-place finished in 2001, including manager Jeff Torborg and a conditioning coach known as the Demon who scares players into keeping in shape. As for the product on the field, the Marlins are all potential but so far little payoff. They are famous for their marvelous young pitchers, and if the kids work out then this team could compete in what is not an inspiring division.

     The Expos are baseball's living dead. They were supposed to be contracted before this season, but that plan fell through. Now that ex-owner Jeffrey Loria has purchased the Marlins, baseball's head office will take over the team's operations. Loria took with him his manager, his coaching staff, and anything else he could get his hands on. The Expos have no fans, on stadium. Now, The Word is that they will be moved to Washington after the season.
     So, what's left? Well, they still have my favourite player, Vlad Guerrero. They have a fine second baseman in Vidro. Javier Vazquez may have been the league's best pitcher in the second half of the season.
     I hate to see this happen; I live in Canada, and when I was young the Expos were a proud, popular franchise with many great players. There are many reasons why the franchise ultimately failed, too many to list in this space, but I think the blame has been unfairly placed on the fans in Montreal, who are just showing a modicum of good taste by staying away.
     Baseball will thrive again in Montreal, someday. The game will come back and find it has an audience, when the economics of the game have dramatically changed, when greed and pompousness have been replaced by a vision and hard work, and names like Selig, Steinbrenner and Fehr have become mere historical anecdotes (I don't sound bitter, do I?).

     The Cardinals were my pick to win the pennant last season. They had a rough start to the season; two of their key players, McGwire and Ankiel, were beset by both injuries and ineffectiveness. They recovered and made the playoffs, but didn't get very far.
     So entering 2002, my pick to win the pennant is... well, St. Louis, I guess. McGwire won't return and it doesn't look as if Ankiel will be back any time soon, but the rest of the roster is just fine. They are still the most balanced team in the league, combining youth and experience, offense and defense, starting pitching and relief. Edmonds, Drew and Pujols are all solid MVP candidates.

     I also like Houston, which goes without saying since they led the league in wins last year. The pitching staff is a little young, but I'd rather be young and good than old and depressing. Biggio and Bagwell were great last year - and neither was healthy. If both are in primo shape, then they and the third Killer B - Lance Berkman - should form the league's most formidable trio of hitters. And Jimy Williams is the new manager! Up here in Toronto, people still like to make Jimy Williams jokes... but the truth is, it's hard to imagine how his reign in Boston could have been a more spectacular success.
     Well, he could have won the World Series, I suppose; but if he had done that, he could probably have run for President as well.
     Jimy's record stands for itself. If the Astros have all their guns blazing in 2002, they'll be tough to beat.

     Cubs fans have been hearing all winter from their team and from the media that the Cubbies will be contenders in 2002. All I have to say is that... well, they're the Cubs. They lost an injury-prone outfielder (Rondell White) and replaced him with another injury-prone outfielder (Moises Alou). Their infield of McGriff, DeShields, Gonzalez, Mueller and Hundley is kinda old, not to mention kinda uninspiring. They have a kid in centre field who will probably be replaced with Doug Glanville by June. And the right fielder... well, he's pretty spectacular, but as usual he's not going to get much help from his mates. The Cubs took a big leap forward in 2001, but they'll need a major dose of luck to avoid slipping back in 2002.

     The Cincinnati Reds won 96 games in 1999, then added Ken Griffey Jr. to their lineup during the off-season. There were great expectations in the Ohio Valley for the summer of 2000. A year later, the Reds are one of the worst teams in the league; not only is Joey Hamilton in their starting rotation, but he will start opening day if his arm doesn't fall off before then. What's going on with this team?
     Well, they raised their expectations way too high after 1999. It is a common phenomenon in sports that a team that makes a great leap forward one year, will take a step back the next. The Reds took that small step back in 2000, winning a respectable 85 games. But instead of regrouping and pushing forward in 2001, they fell out of their tree.
     Fortunately for Reds fans, it is an equally common phenomenon that a team that declines badly one year will usually take a small step forward the next. The Reds will be closer to respectability in 2002. Their core of talent is still impressive, with Griffey and Casey and Boone and Larkin and, of course, Adam Dunn. The bullpen is much better than it is given credit for. The starting pitching is horrible... but who knows, someone might surprise, and the team could have a decent season.
     At least expectations aren't too high. I haven't heard anyone predict 100 home runs for Dunn and Griffey, though the number is probably within their reach.

     The Brewers have no chance of making the playoffs, and that's fine by me. It's nothing personal against the city of Milwaukee; in fact, I'll say that the good folks of Wisconsin deserve something much better. The Brewers have had nine straight losing seasons; they are hopeless, and they are inextricably linked to such bad ideas as the Seattle Pilots and Bud Selig and Miller Park, and it's hard to imagine a winner emerging from that kind of environment.

     There's no need to say much about the Pirates. They will spend the next couple of years recovering from the Cam Bonifay Experience, and once they have paid their debts to Kevin Young, Pat Meares and Derek Bell they can get on with life. The front-line talent is there (Giles, Kendall, Ramirez) but the rest of the roster needs an awful lot of help. At least Pirates fans have a beautiful new park they can enjoy, and Operation Shutdown should keep them amused.

     The Diamondbacks had some kind of season, winning the World Series, even though no one, at any time, actually expected them to win it; it was only when the Series was over that we all had to give our heads a shake and realize that the deed was done. A rapidly aging roster, led by the best two pitchers in baseball, and a monster season from Luis Gonzalez, squeaked into the playoffs. Against the Yankees, they suffered two of the most heartbreaking losses I have ever seen - and I'm not even a fan of the team. Then they were down for the count against one of the greatest postseason pitchers ever... and you know what happened. Even after they began to celebrate on the field, I kept expecting the Yankees to get one more at bat against Byung-Hyun Kim.
     As yet, I haven't mentioned the Mad Catcher himself, Bob Brenly, who bared his heart and soul in front of the cameras and made himself a whipping boy for all of baseball's second-guessers - myself included. My final comment on Brenly's Excellent Managerial Adventure of 2001: it got the desired result, but man, it sure wasn't pretty.
     As for the 2002 season, I will say the obvious: they are old. Man are they old. They will be OK as long as Johnson and Shilling are in top form, and the addition of Helling will help stabilize the rotation. But Johnson is 38 and Schilling is 35, and if anything happens to either one of those guys, this team is finished.

     The Giants had a real good team last year; I might argue that they were better than Atlanta or St. Louis or Houston, but missed the playoffs because they got stuck in a tough division. They are led by one of baseball's odder couples, Bonds and Kent. And who would have guessed that, this spring, Kent would be the one embroiled in controversy? One fact we are sure of is that he broke his wrist; whether he did this while washing his truck or doing wheelies on his tricycle remains a point of controversy.
     Assuming that Kent doesn't miss much time, the Giants should have another good season. The Diamondbacks, Dodgers look weaker than they were last year, while the Giants have made some nice additions to their roster. Of course, runs won't be as plentiful if Barry Bonds doesn't repeat his gargantuan performance from 2001, but this team has a good mix of players, and I think they will win the division.

     The Dodgers are in some kind of mess. The starting pitching is battered and bruised, and they are counting heavily on a hurler (Ishii) who, as impressive as his credentials might be, has never thrown a pitch in the major leagues. They don't have a closer. They traded their best hitter, Sheffield. Their first baseman might be finished. They have a gaping hole in centre field, where Marquis Grissom will apparently be allowed to stink the joint out for another season. They have a gaping hole at shortstop which they are trying to fill with a 22-year-old player (Izturis) who swings at anything thrown within six feet of the plate. There is a controversy about whether Grudzielanek or Izturis should be batting second, which is curious because they are both dreadful choices.
     But they still have Green and Jordan and Beltre and LoDuca to at least give them a chance if the pitching pulls through. If they can get good years out of Brown and Ishii and decent support from the others... well, it's not like the Diamondbacks are going to win every year. And the Dodgers always have the resources to get better during the season.

     The Padres were respectable last year; they were competitive in a tough division, and probably could have made a run at the playoffs had they signed Curt Schilling instead of Bobby Jones. Tony Gwynn has retired and Rickey Henderson has taken his records and gone elsewhere; what's left is a decent lineup but a pitching staff that has been thinned by the trade of Woody Williams and the injury to Adam Eaton. The Padres may be a team to watch in 2003; they have some dynamite young players, including Sean Burroughs, who open the season in the lineup. Whether they contend in 2002 will likely depend on how rapidly these kids mature, and whether the rotation can be patched together from spare parts.

     The Rockies spent a boatload of money on pitching before last season, and ended up losing 89 games. So, what do we try now? Oddly, the Rockies have stubbornly avoided doing the one thing that they really need do to: get more hitters!
     Let's see, so far they have traded Jeff Cirillo, and replaced him with Todd Zeile. They traded Alex Ochoa, and in the same deal received Benny Agbayani. And that's about all they've done to the lineup. They have made a few changes to the bullpen, moving out one White (Gabe) and bringing in another (Rick), but for the most part, this is the same sorry team that came out to play last year.
     Here's an idea. Trade Neagle or Hampton, load up on hitters, worry about pitching later. The Rockies play half their games in a park in which there is very little difference between good pitchers and bad ones; to spend more than a token amount of the payroll on pitching is a losing strategy.