Saturday, January 1, 2011

MLB Power Rankings # 29

I have finally completed the Power Rankings so i will be able to release one a day. I think they may cause some controversy as I took some risks on them this year. But today we are going to look at the #29 team, they are not going to be as bad as the Royals but are still going to be pretty bad. Actually it is a team in the same division as the Royals, The Cleveland Indians. While the Indians finished with 69 wins last year they will likely finish around the same record despite being a better team. They have some nice young pieces but are a while away from contention and they do not have a farm system like the Royals to help in the near future. Lets take a more in depth look at the Indians.

Rotation-
1. Fausto Carmona
2. Justin Masterson
3. Jeanmar Gomez
4. Carlos Carrasco
5. Josh Tomlin

I do like the top 2 starters on their staff, Carmona may not be an ace but he is a capable starter who can eat innings effectively. Masterson is my favorite pitcher of the bunch, he has a decent strikeout potential but may struggle with walks. He fits well as a middle of the rotation starter, but the back of the rotation is not as good as the top. Of the back end starters i like Carlos Carrasco the most as he has the most strikeout stuff and was a solid prospect. But this is a staff that lacks experience outside of Carmona and will take some beatings this season.

Bullpen-
CL-Chris Perez
SU-Tony Sipp
SU-Rafael Perez
MR-Joe Smith
MR-Jensen Lewis

Chris Perez looks to be a very good closer as he went 23 for 27 in save opportunities in 2010. He put up good numbers across the board and is only 25 so the Indians have their closer for a while. The rest of the Pen is solid but unspectacular, they should get the job done but will blow their share of leads. None of the other relievers stand out as being really good or bad so they are in better shape then a lot of pens.

Lineup-
1. Grady Sizemore=CF
2. Asdrubal Cabrera-SS
3. Shin-Soo Choo-RF
4. Travis Hafner-DH
5. Carlos Santana-C
6. Matt LaPorta-1B
7. Luis Valbuena-2B
8. Michael Brantley-LF
9. Jayson Nix-3B

Getting Grady Sizemore back should be a huge boost to this offense, but he is coming off some injuries so his production may not be the same. A full season of young Catching prospect Carlos Santana will be another boost to this offense that has lacked star power. The most consistent player on this team the past few years and most productive has been Shin-Soo Choo. He has been able to post lines around .300/.400/.450 consistently while playing good defense. Outside of those 3 players they will be relying on some young players to live up to their potential such as Matt LaPorta, Michael Brantley, Jason Donald and Trevor Crowe. This offense has the potential to be pretty good but they will need the young guys to contribute and Grady Sizemore to bounce back from several injury plagued seasons. This team could very well move up in the rankings as the season goes on they just need a little luck. But they do have more potential than several teams ahead of them.

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