In the first installment of my power rankings I examine two of the teams that I believe currently will be in the Lottery next season.
#16---Atlantic Surge
Strengths--Holds
Weaknesses--Avg/BB/HR/RBI/R/ERA/Saves/WHIP/Wins
This team without a doubt is at the bottom but has no place to go but up. It just won't be this year. First round picks of Jackson and Middlebrooks I was not a fan of but will get contracted for sure. Second round picks of Harvey and Hunter were also question marks for me. At least this early on. This team will be OK in Holds simply because they don't have any solid Saves guys. Cishek is the only option to close but it's on a bad Miami team and who knows how that will play out. The best news is Atlantic will still have their 5 year contract open for 2014 and they can fill it with a real impact player, assuming they don't trade the pick away. Votto, Longoria, Strasburg or Pujols could really help this team in the future. I see potentially only three 20+ HR guys and nobody near 100 ribeyes and only possibly 3 guys who may steal 10+ bags. Dyson may be nice trade bait for someone looking for cheap steals late in the year but even he won't crack this lineup most weeks. On the pitching side you have Greinke winning more than 10 games and a future star in Harvey and the rest is pretty forgettable. Long year for sure in the North East US of A.
#15---Olivet Killer Eagles
Strengths--K's
Weaknesses--Avg/BB/RBI/R/SB/ERA/Saves
Olivet sold out last year to try and win it all and came up just a bit short. Starting with a pretty blank canvas Larry did a decent job of beginning the rebuilding process. Picking up Lawrie and Young will help beyond 2013 and some potential good contracts like Perez will help the process along. It seems like his trades had a focus on the future but some of his picks didn't. I really don't like the Uggla pick but does give power at 2B and everyone seems to lust after that in this league. Can Reddick repeat? Rumor has it LaRoche has contacted former manager Renner and begged him to trade for him so he could return to a winning team and Chris Young has not cleared out his locker in South Texas. He still can't believe where he is going to have to play this year. The starting pitching is thin at best with Gallardo the only starter who will break 10 wins and he may trot out 6 or 7 of them each week to try and capture wins and K's. Holds are OK but saves are non existent. I'm sure that was by design. 5 potential 20+ HR guys and 3 10+ steal guys leaves you with little hope for 2013 but brighter days are ahead for this team.
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Its not that I disagree, because that would be a hard argument to make. Just a quick thought however. A rebuilding process shouldn't take more than 2 seasons in this league, especially if you can workout deadline deals with contenders and take advantage of a better draft pick the following year. No need to take a bunch of young guys and hope they pan out.
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