Every offseason, rosters are tweaked and projected lineups and pitching staffs are set by clubs in hopes of having enough ‘depth’. Depth is what leads teams deep into October (see: Giants of 2010, 2012, and 2014 and Royals of 2014 and 2015), as the ability to overcome injuries to key players is key. Heading into […]

The Philadelphia Phillies didn’t pretend they were contenders going into the 2015 season, and while that led them to the worst record in baseball, it also led them to dealing away pretty much every veteran asset they had left, barring Ryan Howard and Carlos Ruiz. Out from the burden of nearly every large contract that […]

The New York Yankees are baseball’s big spenders no more. Or at least they haven’t been in recent years. A lot of people think they’re saving their money for what should be a ridiculously loaded 2018 free agent class. Even if that’s the case, it does nothing to help them in 2016. For this season, […]

There are few things repeated more often during March than that the stats don’t matter. You need go no further than to look at the future Hall of Famer Kendall Graveman and the illustrius superstar Taijuan Walker’s numbers from last year. The two Cactus League pitchers allowed a total of three runs combined while throwing […]

The Tampa Bay Rays just couldn’t put it together in 2015. The team scuffled their way to an 80-82 record, just six games out of a playoff berth, but they were part of a quagmire in the middle of the American League standings. Injuries also played a huge role in Tampa Bay’s struggles – only […]

A last-place finish in the AL East is not what was expected from the Boston Red Sox. Not after signing Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval to provide a free-agent jolt to the offense and trading for Rick Porcello to fortify the starting rotation. But an underwhelming pitching staff, in addition to subpar production from those […]

As many of their fans would be the first to tell you, the St. Louis Cardinals have been the toast of the National League Central over the past three years. They’ve taken three consecutive division titles and have appeared in the Postseason in five straight seasons. But with the Pittsburgh Pirates continuing to nip at […]

For a team that went 20 years without a winning record, you would think the last couple years would have been very rewarding for the Pittsburgh Pirates. However, the novelty of winning baseball games (98 wins in ’15) can only take you so far and eventually you have to make it happen in the playoffs. The […]

The Chicago Cubs finally saw returns on their rebuild in a big way last season, as the club won 97 games and made it to the NLCS, only to get swept by the New York Mets. The progress the Cubs made over the last three seasons has been outstanding, and it must feel great to […]

The bottom fell out for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2015 after they surprisingly contended in the NL Central in 2014. Having to contend with the Cardinals, Cubs, and Pirates in their division is a tough enough task, but doing it with one of the worst farm systems in baseball *and* an aging, mediocre roster? Please. […]

If you’re looking for a train wreck, the Queen City is a good place to start. Not only did the Reds lose quite a bit of talent through trades since last July, but they arguably weren’t able to get rid of enough as both Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce had deals fall through after it seemed […]