With all the recent excitement in the Dodgers front office, people may have forgotten the actual players. Going into the 2014 offseason after what was a very disappointing postseason run for the Dodgers, it seems as if they may not look the same come March. Hanley Ramirez seems a lock to not re-sign and the outfield situation needs to be finally solved. Josh Beckett is retiring and the bullpen needs to get rid of almost everyone. The Dodgers need to have a good off-season in order to reposition themselves as the class of the National League.

New president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman has a large task ahead of him with the Dodgers. By Andrew_Friedman_and_Joe_Maddon.jpeg: Jennifer Huber derivative work: Delaywaves talk (Andrew_Friedman_and_Joe_Maddon.jpeg) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

With Beckett gone, starting pitching should also be looked at. The Dodgers have Clayton Kershaw, Zach Greinke, and Hyun-jin Ryu as their front three starters, but the back end of the rotation is the key to winning championships. Like Brian Wilson, Dan Haren will return to the club after picking up his player option. Haren gives them a nice fourth or fifth starter, but they need another.

There are a many options the Dodgers can choose from but I suggest the idea of signing a fourth starter rather than a fifth. Some interesting names are available that include Ervin Santana, Hiroki Kuroda, and Jake Peavy. The Dodgers’ spending habits lately would indicate at least a mild interest in players Jon Lester or Max Scherzer, though new management might not be as excited at the idea of another huge contract.

Finally, the Dodgers need to solve their outfield situation and upgrade a few positions. The Dodgers have too many outfielders and need to do something about it. Who gets the boot?

Andre Ethier, Carl Crawford, Matt Kemp, or Yasiel Puig? Puig is basically untouchable, as he should be. Kemp should be as well after his resurgence last season, which leaves Ethier or Crawford. They both have terrible contracts, which will make it tricky to trade them. Trading Ethier seems the most likely to happen. A team like the Detroit Tigers may be interested, especially with uncertainty surrounding Torii Hunter.

Upgrading at the catcher position would vastly improve the team. AJ Ellis commands the plate as well as any catcher in the league but his hitting isn’t what the Dodgers need to get them over the hump. The only clear option to replacing Ellis for the Dodgers is with Russell Martin. Martin would bring some extra power as well as his control of the plate to the Dodgers, a team he spent a large chunk of his career with.

With Hanley Ramirez half way out the door, the shortstop position is open while they wait for prospect Corey Seager to grow. Some intriguing options in the free agent market, but making a trade with the White Sox for shortstop Alexi Ramirez makes sense. Maybe an Ethier, prospect and money for Ramirez trade would work?

It is essential that the Dodgers have a good and productive offseason in order to repeat as NL West champions and hopefully mirror their Northern California rivals and hoist a World Series trophy for the first time since 1988.

The Red Sox weren’t a very good team in 2012, but I was lucky enough to be able to attend a game at Fenway Park last season. I went to Fenway in early September for a game against the Blue Jays, shortly after the huge Red Sox-Dodgers trade happened.

It was a rainy night in Boston yet the stadium was packed eager to watch their beloved Red Sox. When I left Fenway that night, never did I think in a million years would the Red Sox be crowned champions of the baseball world the next season, especially after a trade that saw Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett pack their bags and head west. But it happened. What an incredible story for the city of Boston, for its fans and for baseball fans all over the world, except for maybe Cardinal and Yankee fans of course.

David Ortiz led the Red Sox to their third World Series title in the last 10 years. By Googie man at the English language Wikipedia, via Wikimedia Commons

The Boston Marathon bombing and the city’s reaction to it has, in many ways, redefined the “Boston Strong” mindset of Beantown.

Earlier in the year, the Celtics couldn’t bring a title back, the Bruins lost in the Stanley Cup Finals and finally the Red Sox broke through. After clinching the American League-East title with slight ease, they took on the Tampa Bay Rays and beat them in four games before taking out the Tigers in six games in the American League Championship Series.

Finally, the Red Sox would meet up with the St. Louis Cardinals after the red birds beat the Dodgers in the NLCS in six games as well. Last night, the Sox clinched and Boston partied.

They started the season off strong and never looked back, which is rare to do in the grueling 162-game season. This team was destined for greatness all season long and they earned the right to call themselves champions. For the first time in awhile, the absolute best team in baseball all season won the title — they weren’t just some “hot” team who climbed into the playoffs and went on some magical run. The 2013 baseball season is over but won’t be forgotten and we all are looking forward to opening day 2014. For now, Boston is partying like its 1918.

One thing that has remained consistent this season is the dominance of Miguel Cabrera. By Cbl62, via Wikimedia Commons

Back in January, about three months prior to the start of the 2013 Major League Baseball season, I wrote an article claiming my predictions for the upcoming season. Now that the All Star Game is upon us, that means the season is a little over halfway finished and my perception of the teams and players has changed over the course of the year from what it was before the season even started. So here are my updated predictions on what will transpire over the next few months of the season:

But first, here are my pre-season predictions:

Teams I picked to win their divisions:

AL East: New York Yankees

AL Central: Detroit Tigers

AL West: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

NL East: Philadelphia Phillies

NL Central: Cincinnati Reds

NL West: Los Angeles Dodgers

Wild Card Teams:

American League: Baltimore Orioles and Oakland A’s

National League: San Francisco Giants and Washington Nationals

CY Young winners:

American League: Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners

National League: Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers

MVP:

American League: Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

National League: Matt Kemp, Los Angeles Dodgers

Best record in each League:

American League: Detroit Tigers

National League: Cincinnati Reds

Manager of the Year:

American League: Jim Leyland, Detroit Tigers

National League: Don Mattingly, Los Angeles Dodgers

Moneyball will finally find a World Series ring in 2013. By Leaders Event from London, United Kingdom, via Wikimedia Commons

Updated Predictions (Stats are up to the All Star break):

Teams I picked to win their divisions:

AL East: Boston Red Sox

AL Central: Detroit Tigers

AL West: Oakland A’s

NL East: Atlanta Braves

NL Central: Pittsburgh Pirates

NL West: Arizona Diamondbacks

Wild Card Teams:

American League: Tampa Bay Rays and Texas Rangers

National League: St Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds

CY Young winners:

American League: Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners (10-4, 2.53 ERA, 140 Strikeouts, 1.10 WHIP)

National League: Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers (8-6, 1.98 ERA, 139 Strikeouts, 0.91 WHIP)

MVP:

American League: Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers (.365, 30 HR, 95 RBI, .458 OBP)

National League: Paul Goldschmidt, Arizona Diamondbacks (.313, 21 HR, 77 RBI, .395 OBP)

Best record in each League:

American League: Oakland A’s

National League: Pittsburgh Pirates

Manager of the Year:

American League: John Farrell, Boston Red Sox

National League: Clint Hurdle, Pittsburgh Pirates

I’m usually pretty stubborn about my predictions, but I will admit that I have changed some of mine from the preseason. I was totally off about both the Dodgers and Angels, even though both can still make some sort of run at the playoffs — especially the Dodgers.

Staying in the National League West, Paul Goldschmidt is my new pick for National League MVP. Many people view Yadier Molina as the favorite but I think otherwise. Goldschmidt has better numbers than Molina in every category other than batting average and he isn’t that far behind him in that.

Before the season started, I said that the Angels would meet up with the Dodgers in the World Series creating a “Freeway” World Series, but the Angels have woefully underperformed and I have changed my World Series prediction on its head. I predict that the Arizona Diamondbacks and Oakland A’s will be the final two teams standing.

Let that sink in for a second and actually consider this scenario. Both of these teams are good enough to make it. I don’t have a winner from these two teams because in my mind, they are evenly matched. Since the American League won the All-Star Game and has home field advantage, I’ll go ahead and pick Moneyball to finally come through in the postseason.

Chris Davis has had a break-out year this season. By Keith Allison on Flickr, via Wikimedia Commons

It’s about that time again, time for the Major League Baseball All-Star game.

Most professional all-star games aren’t as competitive as the real deal, but generally thats not the case for the MLB’s version of the game. This game actually matters because the winning league earns home-field advantage in the World Series. I, like a lot of fans, disagree with this rule because like any other sport, home field advantage should be based off of record not which league played better in the All Star Game. If that were the case, the Western Conference in the NBA would have had home court advantage six times out of the past ten years. This rule needs to be changed but I don’t see it being changed anytime soon. But for what is it, it makes the game that much more compelling to watch and root on your own teams league.

And if the game is going to decide who gets World Series home field advantage, it is certainly wrong that the fans vote the starting players into the game. It should be based off the best players from each position that get to play in the game not off of bias fan voting. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy putting in my own votes every year but, to be honest, I usually vote for my team’s players who I know will never make the cut.

Here are my starting nine players from each league that should be in the starting lineups for this year’s All Star game next month and some of their stats (as current as June 24th, 12:03am):

American League:

Catcher: Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins (.330, 8 HR, 25 RBI)

First Base: Chris Davis, Baltimore Orioles (.336, 27 HR, 70 RBI)

Second Base: Robinson Cano, New York Yankees (.276, 16 HR, 45 RBI)

Shortstop: J.J. Hardy, Baltimore Orioles (.267, 15 HR, 44 RBI)

Third Base: Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers (.370, 20 HR, 75 RBI)

Designated Hitter: David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox (.316, 16 HR, 55 RBI)

Outfielders:

Adam Jones, Baltimore Orioles (.298, 15 HR, 55 RBI)

Mike Trout, Anaheim (not Los Angeles) Angels (.306, 12 HR, 46 RBI)

Jose Bautista, Toronto Blue Jays (.254, 16 HR, 42 RBI)

Starting Pitcher: Clay Buchholz, Boston Red Sox (9-0, 1.71 ERA, 81 K)

National League:

Catcher: Yadier Molina, St. Louis Cardinals (.353, 5 HR, 41 RBI)

First Base: Paul Goldschmidt, Arizona Diamondbacks (.306, 19 HR, 65 RBI)

Second Base: Brandon Phillips, Cincinnati Reds (.265, 11 HR, 60 RBI)

Shortstop: Hanley Ramirez, Los Angeles Dodgers (.358, 4 HR, 10 RBI)*

Third Base: David Wright, New York Mets (.309, 12 HR, 41 RBI)

Outfielders:

Carlos Beltran, St. Louis Cardinals (.305, 17 HR, 46 RBI)

Justin Upton, Atlanta Braves (.240, 15 HR, 34 RBI)

Carlos Gonzalez, Colorado Rockies (.3004, 21 HR, 57 RBI)*

Starting Pitcher: Matt Harvey, New York Mets (7-1, 2.05 ERA, 121 K)

*Because of injuries to Troy Tulowitzki and Bryce Harper

Much has been made of pitching in baseball over the past few seasons. The game has seen a shift from more dominant power-hitters to more shutdown pitchers since the “steroid era” “ended.”

While there are still many bona fide power hitters in the majors (Miguel Cabrera, Jose Bautista, Matt Kemp, Ryan Braun, Robinson Cano, etc.), building a strong pitching rotation has become more of a prominent priority for successful teams. Just last season (2011), baseball had a pitcher, Justin Verlander, win both the MVP award and the CY Young award in the American League. Pitching has always been important to America’s pastime but now it’s more crucial than ever.

Here is my second installment, breaking down each team’s potential starting rotation for the 2013 season with the average Earned Run Average (we know averaging an average isn’t scientifically sound, but we’re doing it anyway…): This time, the spotlight is on the AL Central…

Detroit Tigers:

1. Justin Verlander (17-8, 2.64 ERA, 239 Strikeouts)
2. Doug Fister (10-10, 3.45 ERA, 137 Strikeouts)
3. Max Scherzer (16-7, 3.74 ERA, 231 Strikeouts)
4. Anibal Sanchez (9-13, 3.86 ERA, 167 Strikeouts)
5. Rick Porcello (10-12, 4.59 ERA, 107 Strikeouts)

Average Combined 2012 ERA: 3.65

Chicago White Sox:

1. Chris Sale (17-8, 3.05 ERA, 192 Strikeouts)
2. Wei-Yin Chen (11-12, 3.37 ERA, 194 Strikeouts)
3. John Danks (3-4, 5.70 ERA, 30 Strikeouts)
4. Gavin Floyd (12-11, 4.29 ERA, 144 Strikeouts)
5. Jose Quintana (6-6, 3.76 ERA, 81 Strikeouts)

Average Combined 2012 ERA: 4.03

Kansas City Royals:

1. James Shields (15-10, 3.52 ERA, 223 Strikeouts)
2. Jeremy Guthrie (8-12, 4.76 ERA, 101 Strikeouts)
3. Ervin Santana (9-13, 5.16 ERA, 133 Strikeouts)
4. Wade Davis (3-0, 2.43 ERA, 87 Strikeouts)
5. Bruce Chen (11-14, 5.07 ERA, 140 Strikeouts)

Average Combined ERA: 4.20

Cleveland Indians:

1. Justin Masterson (11-15, 4.93 ERA, 159 Strikeouts)
2. Ubaldo Jimenez (9-17, 5.40 ERA, 143 Strikeouts)
3. Zach McAllister (6-8, 4.24 ERA, 110 Strikeouts)
4. Brandon Morrow (10-15, 4.88 ERA, 134 Strikeouts)
5. Trevor Bauer (1-2, 6.06 ERA, 17 Strikeouts)

Average Combined ERA: 5.10

Minnesota Twins:

1. Vance Worley (6-9, 4.20 ERA, 107 Strikeouts)
2. Scott Diamond (12-9, 3.54 ERA, 90 Strikeouts)
3. Kevin Correia (12-11, 4.21 ERA, 89 Strikeouts)
4. Liam Hendriks (1-8, 5.59 ERA, 50 Strikeouts)
5. Brian Duensing (4-12, 5.12 ERA, 69 Strikeouts)

Average Combined ERA: 4.53

Justin Verlander, the best pitcher in baseball over the last few years, leads a Tigers rotation that is loaded. By leadfoot on Flickr [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The addition of James Shields and Ervin Santana will boost that starting rotation to one of the stronger rotations in the division. I think Santana will overcome his shortcomings over the few previous seasons with the Angels and will return to form. I also believe Shields will now embrace his role of being the number one starter, coming out of David Price’s shadows in Tampa Bay.

Both the Twins’ and Indians’ rotations will be amongst the worst in the majors. Thin rotations are a big reason why it doesn’t look like either team will be competing for the playoffs again this season. While the Royals are the team I believe will end up with the most improved rotation, I still think the division title belongs to the Tigers. The division will come down to the last few weeks as it did last season, with the Tigers winning it and earning the right to try and defend their title as American League champs.

Alex Avila culminated the event when in the 7th inning of an Angel/Tiger matchup a mid-90s Jered Weaver (14-5, 1.94 ERA) fastball whirled inches from his brow. What followed was the hot tempered Weaver being ejected and a Tigers bewildering 3-2 win.

How on earth did things get there?

A 3rd inning two run homerun by Magglio Ordonez began the affair.

After smashing a breaking ball 400 hundred feet to left field, the veteran 3rd baseman paused in the batter’s box in Barry Bonds fashion before charismatically tottering around the bases.

Weaver didn’t agree with the showboating.

“There’s a level of respect in this game,” Weaver said. “I’ve never shown anybody up or ever done anything like that. When you’re standing up at the plate and do what he did, I don’t agree with that.”

Lost in the fracas was a quiet no-hit effort mounting by Justin Verlander (14-5, 2.34 ERA). Just four outs shy of joining Nolan Ryan, Bob Fellar and Sandy Koufax as the only pitcher to throw 3 no-hitters since 1900, the power pitching ace lost his chance giving up a bunt hit to Erick Aybar.

Unfortunately, a walk and a base hit by Maicer Izturis scored 2 runs in the inning, but most unfortunate, was the forearm shiver Aybar landed Verlander at home. Both benches nearly cleared and the swelling personification of youth continued to evolve.

By that point Weaver had been tossed and rationality kicked to the curb—after sitting down 12 straight Tigers post-Ordonez with a dominating mix of fastballs, changeups and sliders, the 26-year-old charismatic competitor completely lost his way in a whim of angry indiscretion.

A full count solo shot to right by Tigers 2nd baseman Carlos Guillen is where things got silly. Standing in the batter’s box for the entire shot to right, Guillan tossed his bat and stared down Weaver. The two engaged with heated words and quickly the game took on a life of its own.

Home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt warned both benches and attempted to maturely dim the grade school bib wearing shin dig. Sadly to no avail, as the Aybar incident proved the American athletes spoiled and provocative need for Hollywood attention comes first and always foremost.

For Weaver, the answer of retribution was simple.

“After what Guillen did, I thought that just kind of crossed the line. I’m not just going to go out there and take that. There’s a line that needs to be drawn. If they want to play the game that way, that’s the way it’s going to be.”

But for Tigers 3-time all-star, Guillen saw things differently.

“That’s the first time I’ve done that,” Guillen said. “But the way he reacted to Magglio … we’re a team. I apologize to his teammates. That’s not the way I play. But it’s part of the game.”

The point made is that we all see things in a different light, but most necessary is our understanding of our polar opposites that we might grow and reverberate with wisdom.

For 15th year veteran Torii Hunter the situation was a poor display of professionalism.

“All that is stupid,” Angels outfielder Torii Hunter said. “Everybody was stupid. That was unprofessional on both sides.”

Suspensions will be sought out by league officials affecting two teams currently fighting for their playoff survival. And despite Weaver or Guillan feeling justified in their actions will be a perfect slap on the wrist to two young stars. 

For Alex Avila, the simplicity of life was a spared element in the lucky turn of a Bob Gibson curse.