ESPN Ranks the AL East by Position

[Brion McClanahan]

If you believe ESPN, this is ugly. The Os finish almost 20 points behind the fourth place team. I think every Os fan knows that the team probably can't finish above 4th, and it would take a miracle to get there, but what do you think?

I personally think that Jones and Markakis are too low, but I find it hard to argue with the rest. Until the young starters prove that they belong, I don' think anyone, even Os fans, is drinking the orange cool-aid. I can honestly say this is the first time I can remember that I don't have any excitement for the beginning of baseball season. There is really nothing to look forward to this year, in my opinion.

Anyway, enjoy: http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/po...ition-rankings

[Frobby]

Well, the overall conclusion that we're the least talented team in the division by a wide margin is hard to dispute. It's interesting that the article pegs Wada as our no. 3 and Chen no. 4. Nobody knows what to expect with these guys.

[crawjo]

Thanks for the link. I agree with pretty much all the rankings. Jones has the potential to be better than Upton but hasn't done it yet. I think Chen might be a little bit better than the writer gives him credit for being, but really who knows?

[Dagger420]

If you believe ESPN, this is ugly. The Os finish almost 20 points behind the fourth place team. I think every Os fan knows that the team probably can't finish above 4th, and it would take a miracle to get there, but what do you think?

I personally think that Jones and Markakis are too low, but I find it hard to argue with the rest. Until the young starters prove that they belong, I don' think anyone, even Os fans, is drinking the orange cool-aid. I can honestly say this is the first time I can remember that I don't have any excitement for the beginning of baseball season. There is really nothing to look forward to this year, in my opinion.

Anyway, enjoy: http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/po...ition-rankings

Who in the hell would rather have Yunel Escobar than JJ Hardy...

Other than that you can't really argue with any of the other Oriole placements. Markakis had a pretty bad year and Jones is definitely not as good as O's fans like to make him out to be.

[Spy Fox]

There's a couple places I could argue but none where I'm fully convinced our player should've been higher.

Strange that they didn't include Jake Arrieta in the SP list at all, despite stating Simon and Tillman as #5 starter candidates when most would say those two have very slim chances of cracking the starting 5. Probably an oversight by the author.

[El Gordo]

I'd give Hardy the edge at SS, I think Reimold could leap frog 2 or 3 above him this year. I'd give Nick the edge on Swisher, and I'd rate Jones and Upton as a wash. Reynolds could go as high as ARoid if he could field an average 3B. He's done it once before, who knows?

[SammyBirdland]

Hopefully Buck hangs this up in the locker room. Should be good motivation.

[kg orioles]

There's a couple places I could argue but none where I'm fully convinced our player should've been higher.

Strange that they didn't include Jake Arrieta in the SP list at all, despite stating Simon and Tillman as #5 starter candidates when most would say those two have very slim chances of cracking the starting 5. Probably an oversight by the author.

I think that shows they didn't do too much research on this.I for one think Arrieta will be much improved this year with the elbow now fixed.

[eb45]

Why is Eric Thames ranked ahead of Nolan Reimold?

Reimold was the second best hitter of the five on that list in 2011 and has the second highest career OPS+ (yes, higher than Crawford). Even if you think Crawford's 2011 wasn't a good predictor of future performance, even if you want to say Gardner is the best defensive player in baseball, even if you think Jennings' September was an aberration, you can't put Eric Thames ahead of Reimold. And you can't just not mention Reimold at all.

Escobar over Hardy is a bit confusing, but well justified.

The Orioles' projected rotation is way, way off, as is the bullpen. Whatever, I guess.

[.500_OR_BETTER]

deleted due to being infracted.

[LookitsPuck]

I agree with them on:

Catcher
First Base
Third Base
DH
#1 Starter
#3 Starter
#4 Starter
#5 Starter

Disagree on:
Second base (I'd rather have Cano)
Shortstop (I'd rather have Hardy, although it's very much a wash between Escobar and Hardy, IMHO)
Left Field (Rather have Reimold over Thames, but certainly would rather have Gardner, Jennings, and Crawford over Reimold)
Center Field (Rather have Jones over all of them save for Ellsbury)
Right Field (Rather have Markakis over Swisher AND Joyce, although I'd most certainly rather have Bautista out of all of them)
#2 (Rather have Britton over Kuroda and Morrow, IMHO)
Bullpen (Would rather have Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, Blue Jays, then Orioles...)

The bullpen is too early to tell, because it's not by any means set in stone, yet.

Intangibles is the stupidest thing ever, IMHO.

That said, the final outcome is pretty spot on, although I think we should be ranked a bit higher (Maybe in the mid 30's...at the expense of the Blue Jays). That said, it still means we're last, and I think our record is going to dictate similarly.

[Oriolidae85]

I'd give Hardy the edge at SS, I think Reimold could leap frog 2 or 3 above him this year. I'd give Nick the edge on Swisher, and I'd rate Jones and Upton as a wash. Reynolds could go as high as ARoid if he could field an average 3B. He's done it once before, who knows?

Agree with you on Hardy, Reimold and Nick (Markakis)...also consider the 3B rankings off, if you consider injury/age issues. IMO Reynolds will take over the best production outside of a healthy Longoria, if you account for defensive improvement and the likelihood of Arod/Yuk missing a lot of games. Alex Rodriquez should be ranked last, IMO>

[eb45]

Wait. Is it "who would you rather have" or "who will be better in 2011"? Because I don't think anyone would even make any attempt at arguing that they'd rather have Kuroda than Britton.

[Spy Fox]

To all those upset about the Markakis ranking, I had the same initial thought. But look up Swisher and Marakakis' stats over the past three years. Nick S. beat Nick M. in both OPS and WAR in all three of those seasons, and not by particularly close margins.

[crawjo]

I agree with them on:

Catcher
First Base
Third Base
DH
#1 Starter
#3 Starter
#4 Starter
#5 Starter

Disagree on:
Second base (I'd rather have Cano)
Shortstop (I'd rather have Hardy, although it's very much a wash between Escobar and Hardy, IMHO)
Left Field (Rather have Reimold over Thames, but certainly would rather have Gardner, Jennings, and Crawford over Reimold)
Center Field (Rather have Jones over all of them save for Ellsbury)
Right Field (Rather have Markakis over Swisher AND Joyce, although I'd most certainly rather have Bautista out of all of them)
#2 (Rather have Britton over Kuroda and Morrow, IMHO)
Bullpen (Would rather have Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, Blue Jays, then Orioles...)

The bullpen is too early to tell, because it's not by any means set in stone, yet.

Intangibles is the stupidest thing ever, IMHO.

That said, the final outcome is pretty spot on, although I think we should be ranked a bit higher (Maybe in the mid 30's...at the expense of the Blue Jays). That said, it still means we're last, and I think our record is going to dictate similarly.

Jones ahead of Granderson? Oof.