2054 Power Rankings (in Review)

[Kingdom]

The first release is going to be a slight twist, before it falls into your traditional worst to first I've been using. To start, we will review each team by division. This thread will be locked until I complete each division in separate posts. Power rankings will be updated after every two sims. And to top things off, instead of a final ranking, I will hand out awards. Because OOTP sucks at awards.

Here we go..

[Kingdom]

The National League Least. I mean, East
(Power Ranking, 4 of 4)

Final order prediction:
1. New York Mets
2. Cincinnati Reds
3. Atlanta Braves
4. Montreal Expos
5. Philadelphia Phillies
6. Chicago Cubs

The Mets and Reds will have automatic bids to the playoffs, because let's face, this is probably one of the worst divisions ever. And it's highlighted by the fact that only 2/6 teams even did anything in the offseason. Montreal has been building a good farm and has several pieces ready or near ready to contribute, and they just dumped 18 million on the 25 year old Tanaka. He represents nearly half their total payroll. Now whether he spends 2-3 seasons in AAA, is a whole 'nother conversation. Cincinnati wasted a chance to build off their third consecutive world series trip by taking a prolonged absence. The Cubs enter year two of the rebuild and should be just as terrible. Philadelphia has been rebuilding since 2044. Atlanta has some talent, but you'd never know they even existed in the league. That leaves, by default, the most active and well-balanced club in the division in the Mets. They have enough hitting and pitching to win the division blindfolded, and they have several young arms in the pipelines to continue their dominance of the division.

Awesomest Player: Immediately it's Jose Rijo of the Reds, the King of all things awesome. But Dennis Eckersley of the Mets can lay claim to being awesome. Challengers await if they get to play in Monty Brewster and Tanaka of the Expos.

Best Move of the Offseason: It was a pretty quiet offseason for this division, as the only notable move was Montreal inking Tanaka. He looks to have the makeup of a a Lew Burdette 2.0.

Could Be a Game Changer: If Montreal shrewdly acquired more quality Major League talent to build around Graham-Molitor-Brewster-Tanaka, they could take down the Reds for a postseason spot.

[Kingdom]

The National League West is scarily the Best?
(Power Ranking, 1 of 4)


Final order prediction:
1. Colorado
2. San Francisco
3. Los Angeles
4. Arizona
5. St. Louis
6. San Diego

Polar opposite of the East. This division was highly active, in which all six teams made major moves to change or improve their teams to a certain degree. Take in account that 3-6 could wind up in any order, and in a fluke year, could take the second spot in the division. Colorado took a risk by trading Snider, but they brought in a front line starting pitcher and they swapped veteran pitchers to obtain a more Coors friendly arm. They signed Colavito to replace Snider's power. San Franny quickly replaced the arm they dealt, with an alarmingly crazy contract, but they added the outfielder they coveted to not only contend, but even overtake Colorado. Los Angeles added some knicks and knacks with veterans to plug holes but they're still top heavy in the rotation (and payroll, ha). Arizona has had a few surprising years back to back and added a top of the line shortstop in Larkin to push them over the edge. They're a real darkhorse. STL decided to buy a lineup this season, but still only have a few quality pitchers. San Diego also bought some talent, but they too also lack sufficient arms.

Awesomest Player: Loaded division..loaded talent. I really dig Billy Williams on San Fran but there's only one that's quite legen.......wait for it.......dary. Ray Dandridge of Colorado has hit .400 in 3 out of 4 seasons. He's nearly amassed 1,000 hits in just four seasons. He also has incredible range at 3B.

Best Move of the Offseason: An amazing baseball trade went down. Walters for Snider. Filled needs for both parties. Simple yet incredibly smart.

Could Be a Game Changer: If Randy Johnson lives more up to the talent, Arizona will be more than a darkhorse.

[Kingdom]

American League Baltimore. Actually, make that East.
(Power Ranking, 2 of 4)

Final order prediction:
1. Baltimore
2. Boston
3. New York
4. Chicago
5. Toronto
6. Detroit

It's subjective as to which AL division is better. There's more depth in the West, but the East is top heavy. Baltmore's chance for a three peat ended at the hands of Boston, who would go on to win the world series. How do these teams follow things up? By.. shedding payroll. The division has largely been quiet, except for Detroit's splurge on Derek Jeter in free agency. Then again, Baltimore still has..everything but they are starting to have to pay for everything. Boston has run into the same predicament, only with a much smaller budget. Chicago and Toronto stayed dormant in the offseason, expect them to only be worse than last year after losing pieces. Detroit could still be the worst team, however, they currently show the most involvement in bettering the organization. New York was also quiet, settling on a swap of starting pitchers and acquiring playoff hero John Barinaga, who had a Snoop Dog moment and changed his name to John Bazinga. They're operating on a tighter financial constraint, for the first time ever. Boston also shed salary, creating holes in the infield. They ulimately have the better overall team to stay above New York. Baltimore is still Baltimore.

Awesomest Player: Joey Turner is a beast, but it's hard to top a player that could do any of the following: win a batting crown, lead the league in homeruns, lead the league in stolen bases, or win a gold glove at 2-3 different positions. Or do them all in one year. Ben Rodriguez. The Jet is mad crazy.

Best Move of the Offseason: Not a whole lot was done, but shedding Stan Musial's salary probably helped Baltimore more than any player could right now.

Could Be a Game Changer: A full season of Rex Pennebaker.

[Kingdom]

​American League West of Puig's Might
(Power Ranking, 3 of 4)

Final order prediction:
1. Oakland
2. Anaheim
3. Minnesota
4. Houston
5. Texas
6. Kansas City

Oakland and Anaheim could go either way. Anaheim had a quiet offseason while Oakland quickly replaced Don Mattingly's corpse with John Olerud. This division as a whole didn't make much of an impact and only made waves after an attempted controversial trade. Oakland has remained steady for the past few years now, and hit it big with the acquisition of Yu Darvish to anchor the pitching staff. Anaheim did the same by trading for Yasiel Puig. Expect both teams to battle to a bloody death, where there can be only one. Division winner that is. They should run away from the division quickly. If I had to give an edge, I will take Oakland by the smallest of margins based on their lineup. Minnesota, Houston, and Texas all are sorely lacking depth in pitching despite having talented hitters in their lineups. They only added a few parts and pieces up to this point. Kansas City is still rebuilding, hoping for development in their farm system. They will likely make a play for a top 3 pick again.

Awesomest Player: Yu-siel Puivish

Best Move of the Offseason: Oakland signing Olerud to upgrade the lineup

Could Be a Game Changer: If Minnesota made an effort to get real pitching, they could make noise

[Kingdom]

I posted that from mobile. Sorry about the lack of formatting. Busy day. Good luck everyone this season!

[cjkalt]

Olerud also improves my defense, with my lack of starting pitching, improving defense will help

[Shadow29]

I tried in FA, and denied by most. Was going to ruin my financials but I hate being stuck floating at .500

[Providence A's]

I tried in FA (many didn't like my organization) and in the trade market (tried really hard to make anything happen...would have unloaded the farm in a couple deals), but haven't been able to substantially improve. I added some depth to the bench and pack of the rotation. Another playoff berth and another playoff series loss at some point.

[Slyder]

[SIZE=4]Los Angeles added some knicks and knacks with veterans to plug holes but they're still top heavy in the rotation (and payroll, ha).

What good is being LA if you're not? SF is also ahead of me in total payroll, and I feel confident if I needed to I have enough dead wood to move to make money match in other deals.

My team is now pretty much set at least through the draft barring any major advancements/injuries.