Baseball

2012 Record: 79-83 (fourth in NL Central, missed postseason)

Key Additions

C Russell Martin (FA), SP Francisco Liriano (FA), RP Mark Melancon (BOS), IF/OF Jerry Sands (BOS), IF Brandon Inge (FA), 1B/OF Brad Hawpe (FA), IF Ivan DeJesus (BOS), SP Jeanmar Gomez (CLE), SP Jonathan Sanchez (FA), SP Vin Mazzaro (KC), SP Stolmy Pimentel (BOS), SP Andrew Oliver (DET), 1B Clint Robinson (KC)

Key Losses

General manager Sandy Alderson and the New York Mets have been taking a lot of flak lately for the absence of major league talent on the roster as the organization forges on with its painstaking rebuilding period.

Mat Gamel can’t catch a break, and it will cost the Milwaukee Brewers in 2013.

For the second time in the last year, Gamel tore his right ACL. The Brewers first baseman was injured May 1 at San Diego after crashing into a wall in an attempt to catch a foul ball off the bat of Nick Hundley.

In November, as the Yankees celebrate their 28th World Series championship with a parade down the Canyon of Heroes, remember the date February 1, 2013. That is the date the Yankees announced the signing of Travis Hafner—and their 2013 starting lineup officially became stacked.

The number of Minnesota Twins participating in next month's World Baseball Classic is now six.

In addition to catcher Joe Mauer (USA), closer Glen Perkins (USA), first baseman Justin Morneau (Canada), and catcher Drew Butera (Italy), pitcher Samuel Duduno and utility infielder Jamey Carroll have been added to WBC rosters. 

They say “hindsight is 20/20.”  But what about foresight?  Does that score somewhere around 20/1200 on the Snellen chart?

The evidence—an article of mine published last September—would suggest to the affirmative.  Granted, some of my predictions are correct, or will turn out to be correct, and deserved of a self-congratulatory pat on the back.

Pedro Martinez is back with the Boston Red Sox, but not as a pitcher. 

There is no late career comeback for Martinez. 

He is now a special assistant to GM Ben Cherington and will have an impact on the pitching staff, even though Martinez is not going to be the one on the mound.  

The times are indeed changing for the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

After seeing the once-proud franchise rot under the ownership of Frank McCourt, the Dodgers find themselves in the enviable position of having a new pack of owners with deep pockets who are willing to spend at all costs to bring a championship back to Los Angeles. 

The Los Angeles Dodgers have one of Major League Baseball’s best five-tool players in center fielder Matt Kemp.

But what if we could make him even better? How good would Kemp be if we could borrow the best skills from his Dodgers teammates to create the perfect baseball player?

Given Kemp’s prodigious talents, it would not take much to make him the best player in the game.

This series will evaluate one team per day, starting on Jan. 23 and ending on Feb. 22 (the first game of spring training). It is based on last season's performance, the offseason changes since then and the author's outlook for the team in 2013. Please keep in mind that rosters can, and will, change before Opening Day.