AL East Preview

Al East:

Team Beilis:

What’s To Like: Let’s start off with a quick stat:
The last three times Beilis has had a season above .500 = 0 finals appearances
The last three times Beilis had a season .500 or lower= three finals appearances

In fact, the last three times a team has made the finals with a .500 or lower winning percentage they were all Beilis’ teams.

It may be a genius strategy at this point for Marty to draft a team that won’t win oo many games during the regular season. If that is his goal this year, then I think he may have succeeded.

So what does Marty do if he can’t draft his favorite player, Noel Gluck? He takes the player who is most comparable in skill set: Nick Martino. The best thing going for Team Beilis is infield defense.

Team Questions: Health is going to be a big concern for a few players this year. James Dell’alba is a great pick in the second round, but will his knees hold up? Leo Friedlich is a great pitcher, but how is his back? I think Dace Clampffer will have a huge bounce back year, but he’s going to have to if this offense is going to be any kind of threat.

Best Draft Pick: James Dell’alba had a huge offensive season last year despite a slow start. His numbers this season should be right up there with the top 4 or 5 hitters in the league.

Prediction: 9-13

Team Pollock:

What’s To Like: When preparing for the draft, Matt and I never thought we’d be able to get both Adam Greenspan and Jared Goldberg. Just like last year, we have a lineup that’s going to be among the top scoring teams in the league. Two keys to our team last year were our pitching and how well the second half of our lineup performed. Not only did we get Herm again, but we have last year’s 7th, 8th, 9th,11th, and 12th picks. Amazingly, the offensive numbers of the six players we have that were not on last year’s team have collective (slightly) better offensive numbers than the six we were not able to bring back. The last two champions of the league have been the teams who scored the most runs during the season. This is a team that could very well lead the league in that category this year.

Team Questions: While I expect our team will do very well offensively, there very well could be a downgrade in defense. The good news is that defense was supposed to be our Achilles’ heel last season, but we answered the critics. We also have a slightly slower team this year which may sporadically cost us some runs during the year.

Best Draft Pick: Last year it was getting Brock Hor late in the second round that made us feel like we could have a heart of the lineup that would make things very difficult for opposing teams. This year it was getting Jared in the second round that makes us feel the same way.

Prediction: 13-9


Team Wallman:

What’s To Like: Team Wallman is the new Team Goldfarb. Part of the reason of course is the inclusion of the Bykofskys, a great value as a 1 and a 3. Like Team Goldfarb from last year, there may not be a lot of firepower, but this team can get on base as often as anyone thanks to perhaps the picks in the draft: The Silbermans. Add the fact that they have a very solid defense and you have the recipe for a team that will be very hard to beat.

Team Questions: The lack of power makes it essential that this team strings together hits in order to compete with some of the more powerful lineups in the league. There may be some guys where the offense will be kept to very few runs.

Best Draft Pick: I said it before, but getting the Silbermans in the 5th gives this team the on base machines they need to be an elite team.

Prediction: 13-9

Team Mamone:

What’s To Like: The first year captain has put together a team that has a little of everything. Speed(Mamone), power(Conti, Turner, Tvrdik, Mamone), and good defense(Polguy, Mamone again). This well balanced attack should keep this team consistently competitive.

Team Questions: I won’t mention names, but there are a few players who I thought went a round or two too early. This has a good chance of affecting the offensive output more than it does the defense.

Best Draft Pick: Tom Tvrdik is the real deal and will provide the same boost to Team Mamone as he did to Team Goldfarb last year.

Prediction: 11-11