TEAM EVALUATIONS: ESOX

Team: Esox

Conference: Patriot

Division: West

2009 Record: 37-125, 5th place

Typical lineup:

1B Chris Davis

2B Martin Prado

SS Luis Valbuena/Alcides Escobar

3B Brandon Inge/Ian Stewart/Mark Teahen

LF Mark Teahen/Carlos Gonzalez

CF David Dejesus

RF Michael Brantley/Fernando Martinez/Mark Teahen

DH Mark Teahen/Ian Stewart/Matt LaPorta/Brandon Inge

C Jarrod Saltalamacchia/John Baker

Yikes.  This lineup is disjointed and brutally awful, but there is a lot to build on here.  Davis should improve given his 2009 second half; LaPorta, Salty, Escobar, Stewart, and possibly Gonzalez are future all-stars; Prado had a terrific year offensively for a 2B; and Dejesus should be steady for several more years. This year, though, it's bad - better than the 37-win team of 2009, but still bad.

Starting Rotation:

Johnny Cueto

Brett Anderson

Scott Kazmir

Dallas Braden

Anibal Sanchez

Brian Tallet/Chris Tillman/Glen Perkins/Todd Wellemeyer

Cueto is a future ace, but not there yet.  The rest are league-average or worse, but at least there are a lot of guys to choose from, and maybe one of those 6th starters will emerge as worthwhile, most likely Tillman.  Kazmir could bounce back to his prospect level, and Braden looks like a very good find.

Bullpen:

Daniel Bard

Tony Pena

Brian Tallet

Todd Wellemeyer

More nightmare fuel here, although Bard has a ton of raw talent and great K/IP numbers.

Closer:

Neftali Feliz

Feliz is a great pitcher who should be terrorizing Major League hitters for the next decade or two.  He's wasted here in 2010 on a team that will have few leads to close.

Minors:

Tim Alderson

Yonder Alonso

Gerrit Cole

Wilmer Flores

Tanner Scheppers

Jose Tabata

Donavan Tate

Brett Wallace

Ryan Westmoreland

The cupboard is bursting here, with Tabata, Wallace, Tate, Westmoreland, and Alonso all poised to be massive OPS monsters, and Alderson and Scheppers as hard-throwing righties at the top of the rotation.  Even Wilmer Flores might help soon if Jose Reyes continues to have health problems and/or the Mets move him to 2B.  I don't know much about Cole, but he looks like a good bet to come out of UCLA as a high first round pick.

The Esox will be much better in 2010 than in 2009, but they will struggle to avoid 100 losses.  I see the blueprint of a hugely successful team in there, especially in the minor league offense, but a couple more years of seasoning are required.

Predicted Record: 62-100