Miracle Power Rankings 7/8

Now we move to the upper half of the teams which at this point seem destined for excellent seasons. I actually had a tie for 6th place so to break the tie I gave a tiebreak vote to the team that would be winning their division, at least IMHO.  Slotted in at

#8--Hackensack Bulls

Strengths-- Avg/K's/Wins
Weaknesses--BB

Across the board the Bulls look very solid.  If they can dodge the injury bug that plagued them last year it just might be their year.  Curtis Granderson has already become their first casualty and Ben has to be wondering if his team is simply snake bitten.  With Grandy out for a stretch they can't afford to lose many more offensive players.  The big question is can Carl Crawford actually play?  Castro has had early hammy issues and someone explain to me why any pitcher would even give Stanton a decent pitch to hit this year.  All that being said they field 4 guys with 25+ HR power and Stanton probably pushes the mid 40's.  Solid speed with Altuve/Castro/Ichiro and a good bench.  The only big question for me on offense is Youk.  He is a shadow of his former self but the Bulls sure need him.  Over on the pitching side what else can you say except WOW!!  Decent MRP, nothing spectacular, good closers with Motte/Johnson bringing in around 70 saves between them.  With the Bulls it's all about the starters.  6 guys will win 10 plus game and Strasburg, Darvish, and Lincecum will probably exceed 200 K's each.  The biggest problem for this team is it resides in the Texas Division.  Always a tall order.  IF everything goes right this team could easily walk away with the Division Title.  Gotta stay off the DL though.  That's the key for each team in this division.

#7--South Texas Heat

Strengths--BB/HR/RBI/Saves
Weaknesses--Avg/Wins

In typical Berg fashion he has put together a team with a low batting average, lots of power, lots of walks and address the pitching later.  It seems like every year he does the same thing and every year he comes up short.  Could this be the year?  Sure, why not.  Big time power everywhere you look.  7 guys sure to go yard 20+ times and another 5 could go 15 or more.  Gardner and Kipnis take care of steals with JHay chipping in a few.  Very little not to like about this offense, that's for sure.  On the pitching side, if Madson comes around and closes his save totals will be elite.  I think Madson will probably get as many holds this year as saves as they ease him back into that roll.  That's not a bad thing on this team.  Robertson and Crow are solid MRP and others can be picked up as the need arises throughout the year.  The key is the starters, specifically Sale and Moore.  I think Moore will have a nice bounce back season getting 12 or so wins with lots of K's.  Sale I'm simply not sold on this year.  If he stays off the DL he will be the ace of this staff.  For Steve's title hopes, that must happen.  the rest of his starters are fairly pedestrian.  If Burnett can repeat 2012 that would be a big boost.  Lots of K's from him as well.  Like with the Bulls if all the pieces fall his way the Heat will take the division.