Most Improved Teams for 2015
1. Chicago White Sox. I really enjoyed watching Rick Hahn work this winter. He needed to improve at a number of positions, and he got around to nearly all of them, turning question marks like Andre Rienzo, Jake Petricka, and Dayan Viciedo into exclamation points named Samardzija, Robertson, and Cabrera. Nearly every player Sox fans were sick of is gone now, and the Kenny Williams days of barging ahead in win-now mode are back. It's good to not give up in March. Really good.
2. San Diego Padres. Easy pick, and they're really a 1B to the Sox' 1A. When you can go to perennial contenders like the Braves, the Rays, and the A's, ask each of those teams for one of their best players, and come away with what you wanted, that's incredibly impressive. Perspective and bias plays a role here, of course, in that the Padres were so forgettable for so long, nobody but A.J. Preller could have imagined this six months ago. But now their rotation stacks up well against every team other than the NL's Big Two, and the lineup should be average with a chance to be better than that. Fascinating winter that will be a fun story to follow all year long, whether or not the moves work.
3. Miami Marlins. The Marlins' situation heading into the winter was much like the White Sox': a young superstar position player and a young number one starting pitcher, both locked up to below-market deals, and not enough around them to chase the big bully in their division. While the Sox leaned heavily on free agency to fill their holes, the Marlins went the trade route, beefing up their rotation and infield around their elite outfield at a heavy cost of young talent. I made it clear several times throughout the winter that it made me nervous watching the Marlins deplete the farm system they had spent two and a half years building up, but this list is about 2015 only, and I like Prado, Morse, and Latos for 2015.
4. Chicago Cubs. Everyone knows by now that this was supposed to be the Cubs' winter, and they got their man in Jon Lester. They also got Dexter Fowler, Miguel Montero, and Jason Hammel and they didn't touch the best collection of position player prospects in the game. I'm going to be pessimistic about said prospects until they prove me wrong, and I still have my doubts about everyone on the roster except for Anthony Rizzo and Fowler. But they should be .500-ish with a real chance to take over the division by 2016.
5. Boston Red Sox. They still have too many outfielders, too many question marks in their rotation, and other than Betts, their best players are all in the decline phase. Like the teams above them on this list, Boston has a long climb ahead of them to get back to October and at least two of these teams will fall short in 2015. But the Red Sox could improve by ten or fifteen games, get a sniff of the wild card race, and that would put them among the most improved teams. They did acquire three starting pitchers and two bats this winter, and while I'm not bullish on them as a whole, that should limit how far the 2015 Red Sox can sink.
Least Improved Teams for 2015
1. Atlanta Braves. This can't be a surprise to anyone. While I think the Braves' front office did a lot of good foundation work this winter, we can't pretend they'll be anything close to contention in 2015. This is what happens when you trade 3 of your 4 good hitters and the best replacement you bring in is Nick Markakis.
2. Oakland A's. I really didn't like the latest installment of Billy Beane's Roster Shuffle. They couldn't do a thing about losing Jon Lester, but tearing it all down seems like an overreaction. Their 2014 win total of 88 was possibly misleading, as Pythagoras had them as the best team in baseball. So even losing Lester's production they probably would have been right in the middle of the AL West race again had they brought back Donaldson, Samardzija, Norris, and the rest. Instead they got rid of everybody in exchange for Ben Zobrist, Jesse Hahn, and a plethora of underwhelming infielders. I know there are financial realities in place that keep Oakland from contending every year, but I don't think they're even going to be close in 2015.
3. Baltimore Orioles. We know Angelos has money. We know Duquette, if he's actually focused on doing his job, is pretty darn good at it. But they lost a lot of thunder in Cruz and didn't even really try to replace it. Was it Duquette's plan to count on rebounds from Chris Davis, Manny Machado, and Matt Wieters? Or was it to go become the Blue Jays' president, and by the time that fell through it was too late to do anything? Either way, it was a pretty crummy job that might end up sabotaging a shot at back-to-back AL East crowns.
4. Tampa Bay Rays. It looks like the run that began in 2008 ended when the Red Sox beat them in the 2013 Divisional round. When you lose Price, Zobrist, and Myers in the span of seven months, you can't really hope to replace any of them. The step back was due, but I think when all the predictions and projections are out, this will be the first time in six years that nobody has the Rays winning it all. As a fan of worst-to-firsting and a large amount of year-to-year turnover in the standings, I'm bummed to think that we might never see another playoff game in Tampa under the current ownership and stadium situation.
5. Philadelphia Phillies. I'm sure Phillies fans would rather be higher on this list, but they couldn't trade Cliff Lee, Chase Utley, or Ryan Howard, and they're holding out for a massive Godfather offer on Cole Hamels. That means there was no veteran-for-prospect trade to make, outside of moving Marlon Byrd and Antonio Bastardo. Those were fine trades, and I really don't blame Ruben Amaro for holding on to Hamels for now, but all that means the team is stuck in neutral. I said a year ago that the Phillies were further from contention than any other team, and I don't see how they're any closer today. Baseball purgatory is an ugly place.
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