Now that one week of the 2009 Major League Baseball season is under wraps, let's play a little fact or fiction:
The Tampa Bay Rays will make the playoffs in 2009: Fiction.
One piece of fiction about the 2008 Rays was that none of their players had career years. Are you kidding me? Just look at their pitching staff: Grant Balfour, J.P. Howell, Matt Garza, Andy Sonnanstine, and James Shields all had career years last year, so if even a couple of them fall back to earth in 2009 it will mean that the Rays won't make the playoffs. Add to the fact that the competition in the AL East is better in 2009 than it was in 2008, and you've got the Rays being left out when October comes around.
The Florida Marlins fast start is for real: Fact.
It's so real in fact, that I'm going to say the Marlins will make the post-season this year. In a division with the World Series Champion Phillies, the Marlins went 84-77 last year. Hanley Ramirez is an MVP candidate and the young pitching staff is now experienced enough to take this team to the next level.
Matt Wieters will win this year's AL Rookie of the Year: Fiction.
While all signs point to the Baltimore Orioles top prospect Matt Wieters being a great player, it is very difficult for a young catcher to come up from the minors and make an immediate impact. There is still too much for Wieters to learn in the big leagues for him to win Rookie of the Year this year.
Stephen Strasburg will be the first pick of the 2009 draft by the Washington Nationals: Fact.
The Nats need all the help they can get and getting one of the top prospects to come along in quite some time is an opportunity the Nats cannot afford to pass up. No matter that Strasburg, a pitcher out of San Diego State, is represented by Scott Boras, the Nats will open up the checkbook to sign this kid.
Podcast RSS Feed
Real Baseball Intelligence (RBI), a leading resource in the evaluation of amateur baseball talent and draft coverage, has ranked Stephen Strasburg the #3 prospect in the 2009 MLB Draft. View his free scouting report (with video) at withthefirstpick.net/stephen-strasburg