TEAM EVALUATIONS: HOBOS

Team: Hobos

Conference: Patriot

Division: Central

2009 Record: 110-52, 1st Place

Typical Lineup:

1B Lance Berkman

2B Jeff Keppinger/Howie Kendrick/Asdrubal Cabrera

SS Asdrubal Cabrera/Rafael Furcal

3B Chase Headley

LF Nelson Cruz/Alfonso Soriano

CF Chris Young

RF Andre Ethier/Milton Bradley

DH Milton Bradley/Alfonso Soriano/Nelson Cruz/Jesus Flores

C Mike Napoli/Landon Powell/Jesus Flores

The Hobos lineup is a patchwork that isn't as great as the parts looks to be, at least not this season.  Berkman pretty much continued to rake, but Soriano, Young, and Bradley didn't contribute much.  Cruz and Ethier make nice corner outfielders.  Cabrera was slightly better with the bat this year at SS, but Furcal will probably bounce back in 2010.  Napoli is a good power-hitting catcher, but his defensive skills are poor.  Flores will give the Hobos 95 good AB's.

Starting Rotation:

C.C. Sabathia

John Lackey

James Shields

Rick Porcello

Ian Snell

Erik Bedard/Daisuke Matsuzaka

This is a better rotation than WHIP and ERA show, and it's not bad even then.  Shields and Porcello are merely slightly above league average at this point, but will improve, and Snell is worse than that.  The others (aside from Dice-K) are terrific and are the aces of their respective staffs.  Bedard's 15 starts will come in very handy.

Bullpen:

Ronald Belisario

Evan Meek

David Robertson

Kerry Wood

Nothing special here, except for Belisario's ability to negate righties.

Closer:

Brian Fuentes

Fuentes is a weak closer who should struggle in this league.  Wood can step in to take off some of the heat, but he isn't much better.

Minors:

Dustin Ackley

James Darnell

Yu Darvish

Desmond Jennings

Ethan Martin

Anthony Ranaudo

Jameson Taillon

A decent collection of talent, with Jennings the only one fairly close to making the major league roster.  The others are pretty far away, and Darvish may never play an inning in the US while enjoying a superstar career in Japan.  Ranaudo and Taillon haven't even been drafted yet, but should have at least a reasonable shot at stardom in three to four years.

The Hobos are in my division, and I was ready to relegate them further down when I saw their overall stats, but the starting pitching looks like that of a contender, and they should be right in the mix if not on top.  Fuentes may cause some problems with end game situations, and the offense looks spotty, but I think they should do well.  Nothing like the 110 wins of last year, but 90 wins appears within reach.

Predicted Record: 92-70