"Pick to Click" Series: NL East

Pick to click! How about some NL East love?

Braves

• Pick to click - Jason Heyward
• Never underestimate the power of a much-hyped prospect that everyone writes off as a bust too early. As a 20 year old rookie, Heyward put up an on-base percentage of .393 and an OPS of .839. A huge bounce back candidate....HUGE.

Marlins

• Pick to click - Logan Morrison
• All of the crazy players will probably prosper under Ozzie... so logically the craziest will prosper the most. In a clubhouse full of candidates, I'm singling out Logan Morrison as the most crazy. (However, we excluded Carlos Zambrano because I'm expecting him to get arrested for stabbing someone by about mid-May. If not for his propensity for stabbing, he would have been picked to click.)
  

Mets

• Pick to click - Johan Sant....just kidding. Ike Davis
• Davis finished the year strong after returning from injury, but it will be interesting to see what he is capable of if given another full major league season. His rookie season in 2010 looked good, last year was essentially lost, so we'll see how he bounces back. I'm projecting around 30 home runs even in the middle of a terrible lineup.
• (Seriously though, the only clicking for Johan Santana is the sound his arm makes when he tries to throw a baseball.)

Nationals

• Pick to click - Prince Fielder
• Let's not get hung up on the details like, "He hasn't signed with them yet." or "His body mass index is close to 50." or "They created a third type of diabetes when he broke into the majors in 2005." (Which is true, by the way....look it up.)
• Trust me. Prince will sign with the Nationals, and their lineup will look excellent with him in the middle. He will click. They will click. It's suddenly a pretty deep lineup - Espinosa, Zimmerman, Fielder, Morse, Ramos, Werth etc.
• Prince will also be featured in our upcoming series "Picks to Stay Thick." Also in that series, we'll give a nod to Pablo Sandoval and relievers Ray King and Dennys Reyes. That's Dennys. Like the restaurant.

Phillies

• Pick to click -John Mayberry, Jr. and/or Dominic Brown
• Both have the potential to be productive everyday players. Mayberry was a good offensive player in a limited role last year, and thus far Brown has been underwhelming in his brief time in the majors. The injury to Howard will give one of these players an opportunity to get regular at bats, and there might also be a spot in the outfield if they both start playing well since no one wants to see Laynce Nix out there every day. Double pick to click!

MLB Power Ranking: January 16

Time for our bi-monthly MLB Power Ranking update. With every rise or drop of a team, we will offer a brief explanation for the change.   Still curious to see where the Purple Rain will land... As always, feel free to squabble in the comments below! 

1. New York Yankees (Up from #4. In one day, the Yankees dramatically improved their chances by drastically improving their rotation, turning what was a weakness into a strength.  Prior to their recent moves, beyond Sabathia, the rotation was brutal [see: "The Yankees' Inexplicable Dearth of Starting Pitching"].  By adding Pineda and Kuroda as their #2/#3 starters, the Yankees have turned Nova into their #4 and now have an open competition between Hughes/Burnett/Garcia for the #5 spot. [Just noticed this oddity, but if Garcia wins the job, all five starter will have last names that end with "A."])  
2. Texas Rangers (Up from #3.  This ranking comes with the assumption that the Rangers will eventually actually sign Yu Darvish.  Frankly, its also a lot about my present feelings on the Red Sox, who haven't necessarily yet addressed some question marks in the rotation.  I'm also very uneasy about Bobby Valentine, who looks like he could be part of sci-fi show in which all the figures in a wax museum come to life.)
3. Boston Red Sox
4. St. Louis Cardinals 
5. Los Angeles Angels (of Anaheim)
6. Philadelphia Phillies
7. Arizona Diamondbacks
8. Tampa Bay Rays
9. Toronto Blue Jays
10. Cincinnati Reds
11. Atlanta Braves
12. Washington Nationals
13. Detroit Tigers (Down from #8.  No major changes with the Tigers.  I just looked at their roster and said, "Bleah...") 
14. Cleveland Indians
15. Colorado Rockies
16. San Francisco Giants
17. Chicago White Sox
18. Minnesota Twins
19. Milwaukee Brewers
20. Miami Marlins (Down from #17.  Yep, this drop comes because of the addition of Carlos Zambrano, who actually represents negative vale.  In my mind, his acquisition signals that the Marlins aren't really trying to win [see: "The 2012 Miami Marlins: My New Favorite Reality TV Show"])
21. Kansas City Royals
22. Los Angeles Dodgers
23. Chicago Cubs (Up from #26.  As much as I hate to say it, Theo Epstein has made some great [in a couple cases, very one-sided] moves.  He was able to acquire a potential franchise first baseman in Anthony Rizzo for nothing more than a hard-throwing reliever [see: "Transaction Reaction: Anthony Rizzo for Andrew Cashner"] somehow able to get rid of Carlos Zambrano without the involvement of the mob.  By the way, I can't wait until everybody in the world jumps on the Cubs bandwagon when they start showing signs of life.  Just wait, being a Cubs fan will become painfully trendy, a-la being a Red Sox fan in 2004.) 
24. Seattle Mariners (Up from #25.  Jesus Montero should offer some long-term mash on a team starving for offense.  But they also lost their #2 starter in the trade with the Yankees, so not a huge jump in the power rankings.  This move up also represents a drop for the Padres who were on the wrong end of the Rizzo for Cashner swap.)
25. Pittsburgh Pirates
26. San Diego Padres 
27. New York Mets
28. Baltimore Orioles
29. Houston Astros
30. Oakland Athletics (If there was a way for me to drop the A's further, I would.  They are brutal! Maybe they can bring Scott Hatteberg out of retirement.)

Transaction Reaction: The Yankees' New Rotation

In a matter of minutes, the Bronx Bombers negotiated a major trade for Michael Pineda and signed free agent Hiroki Kuroda. Bombers and the Japanese haven't combined for this big of a news story since......(edited due to a blatant lack of cultural sensitivity).

These moves addressed and then erased the only doubts about New York's roster for 2012. Many seemed to think the Yankees were content to huddle just under the salary cap and wait for next years' free agent class to address their pitching needs (Cain, Greinke, etc.) These moves immediately push the Yankees to the top of the power rankings in my book, as the middle and back end of their rotation just shifted from being an Achilles heel to one of the biggest strengths of the ball club. Keep in mind they also still have Burnett, Freddy Garcia and Phil Hughes to battle for the fifth spot. This is crucial because they will have two additional pitchers who can step in immediately for spot starts rather than relying on unproven youngsters. This also might give them some time to work with Burnett and see if he can regain his form from a few years ago.

-First, the trade. The Yankees traded Jesus Montero and Hector Noesi to obtain Michael Pineda and Jose Campos, a hard-throwing prospect. How good is Michael Pineda? Well, Pineda was good enough to make the All-Star team as a rookie last year. He also gets his outs by striking out a TON of hitters, which is crucial if he's going to pitch well in the New York Launching Pad. I've heard that Hector Noesi has huge upside, which may eventually make him as good as Pineda. However, I've never seen him pitch and the Yankees have a history of vastly overrating their own prospects (see: Joba). Jesus Montero is also a big time prospect, and he seems like he will end up being an elite bat. The challenge for the Mariners will be whether to keep him at catcher or to put him at first base. Either way, it seems like each team got what they wanted, and on the surface it looks to be a reasonably fair deal.

-Then, the free agent signing. Hiroki Kuroda is a phenominal pitcher when he is healthy. However, his injury history has limited his innings load. This works out pretty nicely for the Yankees given their new found depth. I already mentioned that they have 6 or 7 decent option for 5 spots, so they can use Kuroda when he is healthy, and use Phil Hughes or AJ Burnett if not. I love the look of the new rotation, and Kuroda brings some talent and a different look to the middle of their rotation. I can't imagine how awkward it would feel trying to hit against CC Sabathia one day, and then attempting to regain your timing against Kuroda the next day. The only possible downside to this deal is that Kuroda is an aging, contact pitcher who is used to playing in Los Angeles, which is a very favorable pitching environment. For context, to translate Kuroda's numbers from LA to his new park in New York, you'd have to adjust his stats by an incredible 45% (according to Stat Corner's park effects data). That would push his ERA closer to 4.30 or 4.40. Yankees fans can breathe easy though, because Kuroda does induce a high number of ground balls, and those don't often fly over the fence.