In the second of four installments I take a look at the Great Lakes Division. This will be a very interesting battle this season with an awful lot of offense residing here, at least before the draft. The upcoming draft will determine a great deal in this division this year. We will see how the pitching shakes out after the draft. First up...
Olivet--There are very few players returning to Olivet for 2013. Larry went all out in 2012 to win the title and came up just a bit short. 2013 promises to be almost a complete rebuild. He has already traded out of the first round to acquire more picks which will equate to more bodies to fill out his contracts and his lineup. That was probably his best option and I will be anxious to see how his draft comes together.
Mid-Michigan--It appears that the top 6 picks in the draft are pretty well set. Mid Michigan has pick #7. I'm sure Keith would like to see Verlander drop to him but I don't think that will happen....if he wants him he will have to trade up, and I don't see that happening given the amount of activity that surrounds him each year. Some solid pieces return along with some not so solid pieces. McCann, Bruce and Scherzer are dependable but the others are unreliable or just not that good. What does he do with pick #7? I have to lean OF here but one of the top SP is not out of the question. In the end I think in a league built around offense will determine his pick.
Gaylord--I think Mike would really like to draft CarGo with the number 4 pick and who can blame him. The consensus seems to be David Wright but I think it may go down to what picks 2/3 do. the offense contains some solid pieces along with some he would prefer not have under contract. But what can you do?? I think he really needs to go offense here but it is entirely possible that we see JV taken here. Would not surprise me at all.
Charlotte--May be the most anticlimactic #1 pick in eMLB history. Choosing Cabrera will round out a very solid offense for 2013. He could use upgrades in certain areas of course, like in the OF, but the key will be what he does with the second pick that he has in round 1. He could certainly go OF with his second pick but with no pitchers on the roster at all it would be a long time to wait to start filling that out.
In the end I think this will be another up and down year for the Great Lakes Division. I don't think there will be a front runner there like last year where it was really decided very early on how that was going to pan out. It will be the draft and who really works it during the year that decides this division. But isn't that always the case. Can't wait to preview this division after the draft.
Next up...the Western Division.
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