TEAM EVALUATIONS: SENATORS

Team: Senators

Conference: Liberty

Division: Northeast

2009 Record: 98-64, 1st place

Typical lineup:

1B Billy Butler

2B Robinson Cano

SS Jason Bartlett

3B Chone Figgins

LF Josh Willingham/Melky Cabrera

CF Carlos Beltran/Felix Pie

RF Ryan Ludwick/Elijah Dukes

DH Jack Cust

C Jadier Molina/Jose Morales

Nothing spectacular, but steady all the way across, with some great speed, defense, and enough power to do some damage.  Cano, Bartlett and Figgins are all standouts in the infield.  The outfield is not as strong, but there are a lot of spare parts (some not shown here) that will add to the overall effectiveness.  Molina is terrific all-around backstop.

Starting Rotation:

Cliff Lee

John Lannan

Jason Marquis

J.A. Happ

Aaron Harang

Chris Volstad

Lee is a true ace, and Happ looks great in a more limited role.  The rest are pretty much league-average, but not so horrible that you would mind running them out there.  This is the rotation of a borderline playoff team in our league.

Bullpen:

Shawn Camp

Bobby Howry

Guillermo Mota

Fu-Te Ni

Takaishi Saito

Claudio Vargas

Deep, solid and versatile, but not spectacular.  There won't be too much lead-surrendering here, but it could get hairy sometimes.

Closer:

Chad Qualls

Not the best.  They have an advantage in that Saito can help take up some slack.

Minors:

Ryan Tucker

Another team built for now.  The one prospect, Tucker, is a pitcher in the Marlins organization who spent much of 2009 on the DL.  He now says he has Raynaud's Disease, which causes numbness in his extremities in cold weather.  Not good for a guy who would have to play against the Mets, Phillies, Nationals, Rockies, Cards, Pirates, and Cubs in April, May, and September.  Let's hope he gets traded out West somewhere.

It looks to me like the Senators will not repeat or improve on their 98-win season of a year ago, and might be heading for a several-years-long decline without some major re-tooling.  They should contend for at least a wild-card this season, though.  They have enough pitching and the offense is just good enough to put them at that level, but not much further.  I can't see a long playoff run here.

Predicted Record: 89-73