Power Rankings Part 2 (13-18)

18) Kansas City Royals – Scott Czarniak (Projected Record 10-10)

Back to the AL Central as we hit our 3rd team in the Royals, who moved from Cleveland to Kansas City, which is never an easy thing to do. They took over the team and made some immediate changes to improve its pitching staff, which he did, but in my mind still has some question marks. Brett Anderson, Hyu Jin-Ryu, Jamie Garcia, Charlie Morton, and CC Sabathia all have question marks for different reasons, whether it is age, injuries, or team situation. There is a chance all these guys put together solid years, but that is being very optimistic. I do love the bullpen of Bedrosian, Maurer, and Addison Reed. Should be able to get a lot of points from those 3 in the bullpen. The bats in the lineup have good power as well with names such as Arenado, Zimmerman, Melky, Holiday, and Adam Jones. The offense will be good all year and if the starting pitching proves the question marks wrong, then Royals could easily win their division.

Prediction: Misses Playoffs (2nd in division)

17) Atlanta Braves – Michael James (Projected Record 9-11)

It was tough putting Braves at 17 as I look at their offensive lineup as they have big hitter after big hitter that can put up big numbers every week. After the Braves win line went from 10 to 9, I had to be a skeptic and look further into their team. The offense is electric with the names of Realmuto, Moreland, Dee Gordon, Moustakas, Eaton, Justin Upton, and Carlso Gomez. The offense will outscore the pitching of this team every week, I’m almost sure of it. Expect a couple of those guys to be playing in the mid-season classic. For pitching, I do love Mike Fulmer to avoid a sophomore slump and to only get better in Detroit, but I still am worried about Aaron Nola, Blake Snell, Dan Straily, and Jason Vargas. The bullpen doesn’t include any closers, which will hurt the bullpen numbers as well. Braves will pick up holds very often, but it is only half the points of what saves get you. Ranking 17th also was because of the tough NL East as I think the Braves and Nationals will be battling to see who finishes last in the division. To end on a good note, the Braves offense could finish top 5 in the league.

Prediction: Misses Playoffs (3rd in division)

16) San Diego Padres – Dave Handley (Projected Record 6-14)

I will stand up for Dave and say I think his team is way better than the 6 win projection looking at his full roster, but…….he plays in a brutal NL West. I think if you slide the Padres into that AL Central, he is ready to compete for the division title, but with the Rockies, Giants, and Dodgers all with solid squads, division wins will be tough to come by. The Padres are solid all around, but it comes down to the NL West other teams are better at the moment. The pitching staff includes King Felix, Mike Leake, Jake Odorizzi, Jared Eickhoff, and AJ Ramos. I like the solid core for the Padres and I think all of the names listed will put up consistent numbers each week of this season. Moving to his bats, he has AJ Pollock back after missing last year with an injury and he has the wheels of Jose Peraza to add to the lineup as well. The lineup is solid all around and even has good bats off the bench with Matt Duffy and Travis Janikowski. Even with the tough NL West, I think the Padres will finish with over 6 wins this year, but I think will fall short of any playoff talk with a bad division record.

Prediction: Misses Playoffs (Tied for 3rd in division)

15) Detroit Tigers – Tommy Pilewicz (Projected Record 11-9)

And at #15, we rank our final AL Central team in the Detroit Tigers. Detroit can see this as 15 being too low, but in the end, I do have them as my AL Central Champions this year. The offense is fire lead by Carlos Correa, Jake Lamb, Brad Miller, Corey Dickerson, and Yadier Molina. The starting pitching has a solid core as well with Gio Gonzalez, Matt Harvey, Steven Matz, Ivan Nova, and Steven Wright. I think the bullpen could use some work, but the consistency between offense and defense is there to win this division. The problem could be if Matz stays hurt or any other pitches go to the DL, Tigers have no depth so this could be a problem down the road. The structure of the team is solid though, so I expect a great race for the AL Central title.

Prediction: MAKES PLAYOFFS (Loses 1st Round) (1st in divison)

14) Pittsburgh Pirates – Kyle Kinyon (Projected Record 9-11)

The Pittsburgh Pirates had a rough 2016 year, but judging by his roster this year, the Pirates will be much improved heading into 2017. Kyle traded away Xander Boagerts and some other pieces, but still found the way to keep the bats solid for every position. Unfortunately, Martin Prado will be out for a while, so Kyle will lean on the other big bats such as CJ Cron, Addison Russell, Starling Marte, Marcell Ozuna, and Trevor Story. I don’t think the offense will ever be a huge problem for the Pirates, but like most teams, I think pitching is a little shaky. I like Danny Duffy a lot and think he will repeat his numbers from 2016, but for guys like Zach Wheeler, Michael Pineda, Garret Richards, and Kevin Gausman, I need to see more of before I see them as consistent pitchers that put up solid points each week. The bullpen is solid for Pittsburgh, so I think the issue will just be seeing if the pitchers can all score decent points each week. In a tough NL Central, Kyle will have to fight for every win he gets, which is the reason I have him ranked as 4th in his division.

Prediction: Misses Playoffs (4th in division)

13) San Francisco Giants – Sean McGinn (Projected Record 10-10)

Sean has a sneaky good team over there in San Fran, but I still see some question marks before I make him a top 10 team in 2017. I think his offense is solid, but then I look at pitching and I am not as impressed after Cole Hamels. With Max Scherzer in Miami now, Giants will turn to arms like Jordan Zimmerman, Miguel Gonzalez, and Chad Kuhl. Zimmerman is the most well-known name, but struggled at times during the 2016 season. When Julio Urias comes up, the roation will look a lot better for Sean so he can take out Bronson Arroyo out. What Sean lacks in starting pitching he makes up for in his studs with Chapman and Edwin Diaz. These 2 guys will be electric all year. For the bats, the Giants send out a lot of power and veteran guys including Buster Posey, Adrian Gonzalez, and Evan Longoria. The great part about the vets is that you can trust them each week to put up good numbers to help your team get in position to get a win. For the Giants to be contenders the young bats like Tommy Joseph, Aledmys Diaz, and Joc Pederson have to put up solid, consistent numbers and avoid any big slumps during the year. For the Giants as well, the NL West could be brutal this year, so finding wins within the division will be tough!

Prediction: Misses Playoffs (Tied for 3rd in Division)