2023 MLB Season Preview

The 2023 MLB season is set to begin this Thursday and a lot of new faces are being introduced across the league. This was a wild offseason, that saw a couple of Cy Young winners switch teams, a few international prospects that are highly anticipated, and so much more. Now with the implementation of the pitch clock, both pitchers and hitters have been trying to adjust to a set amount of time that they get in between pitches. The baseball world has mixed feelings, as the game goes faster but also takes away some of the habits of the players. Unlike last season where the lockout impacted the usual start date, this season will begin on time in late March as we’ve grown used to. So here it is my 2023 MLB season preview, packed with standings, playoffs, awards, and roster projections, as well as right up’s on each team based completely on my thoughts for all 30 franchises. Hope you enjoy!

Standings

AL EAST
x-New York Yankees 97-65
y-Toronto Blue Jays 89-73
Tampa Bay Rays 82-78
Baltimore Orioles 73-89
Boston Red Sox 70-92

AL CENTRAL
x-Cleveland Guardians 89-73
y-Minnesota Twins 85-77
Chicago White Sox 81-81
Detroit Tigers 71-91
Kansas City Royals 63-99

AL WEST
x-Houston Astros 98-66
y-Seattle Mariners 95-67
Los Angeles Angels 79-83
Texas Rangers 74-88
Oakland Athletics 60-102

NL EAST
x-Philadelphia Phillies 99-63
y-New York Mets 98-64
y-Atlanta Braves 93-69
Miami Marlins 75-87
Washington Nationals 59-103

NL CENTRAL
x-St. Louis Cardinals 87-75
Chicago Cubs 82-80
Milwaukee Brewers 79-83
Cincinnati Reds 64-98
Pittsburgh Pirates 62-100

NL WEST
x-San Diego Padres 101-61
y-Los Angeles Dodgers 97-65
Arizona Diamondbacks 86-76
San Francisco Giants 76-86
Colorado Rockies 66-96

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Playoffs

ALWC	ALDS	ALCS	–
3 – Cleveland vs. (In 3 Games) 6 – Minnesota	1 – Houston vs. (In 3 Games) 6 – Minnesota
		1 – Houston vs. (In 7 Games) 4 – Seattle	Seattle Mariners AL Champions
4 – Seattle vs. (In 3 Games) 5 – Toronto	2 – NY Yankees vs. (In 4 Games) 4 – Seattle

NLWC	NLDS	NLCS	–
3 – St. Louis vs. (In 3 Games) 6 – Atlanta	2 – Philadelphia vs. (In 3 Games) 3 – St. Louis
		1 – San Diego vs. (In 6 Games) 3 – St. Louis	San Diego Padres NL Champions
4 – New York vs. (In 3 Games) 5 – Los Angeles	1 – San Diego vs. (In 4 Games) 4 – New York

WORLD SERIES:
San Diego Padres over Seattle Mariners in 6 games

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Lineups

MVP: Shohei Ohtani, LAA
CY YOUNG: Dylan Cease, CWS
MANAGER OF THE YEAR: Scott Servais, SEA
COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Liam Hendriks, CWS
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Gunnar Henderson, BAL

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Baltimore Orioles

Manager: Brandon Hyde
5th year, Career/Team record: 214-332 – AGE: 49

POS.	NO.	LINEUP	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
CF	#31	Cedric Mullins	28	L/L	.258 AVG, 16 HR, 68 RBI, 34 SB
C	#35	Adley Rutschman	25	S/R	.254 AVG, 13 HR, 42 RBI, .362 OBP
RF	#25	Anthony Santander	28	S/R	.240 AVG, 33 HR, 89 RBI, .318 OBP
LF	#21	Austin Hays	27	R/R	.250 AVG, 16 HR, 60 RBI, .306 OBP
3B	#2	Gunnar Henderson (R)	21	L/R	.259 AVG, 4 HR, 18 RBI, .348 OBP
1B	#6	Ryan Mountcastle	26	R/R	.250 AVG, 22 HR, 85 RBI, .305 OBP
DH	#85	Kyle Stowers (R)	25	L/L	.253 AVG, 3 HR, 11 RBI, .306 OBP
2B	#12	Adam Frazier	31	L/R	.238 AVG, 3 HR, 42 RBI, 11 SB – SEA
SS	#3	Jorge Mateo	27	R/R	.221 AVG, 13 HR, 50 RBI, 35 SB*

POS	NO.	BENCH	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
C	#27	James McCann	32	R/R	.195 AVG, 3 HR, 18 RBI, 3 SB – NYM
INF	#29	Ramón Urías	28	R/R	.248 AVG, 16 HR, 51 RBI, .305 OBP
2B/OF	#77	Terrin Vavra (R)	25	L/R	.258 AVG, 1 HR, 12 RBI, .340 OBP
OF	#26	Ryan McKenna	26	R/R	.237 AVG, 2 HR, 11 RBI, 2 SB

–	NO.	ROTATION	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
SP	#68	Tyler Wells	28	RHP	7-7, 4.25 ERA, 76 Ks, 1.14 WHIP
SP	#64	Dean Kremer	27	RHP	8-7, 3.23 ERA, 87 Ks, 1.25 WHIP
SP	#19	Cole Irvin	29	LHP	9-13, 3.98 ERA, 128 Ks, 1.16 WHIP – OAK
SP	#48	Kyle Gibson	35	RHP	10-8, 5.05 ERA, 144 Ks, 1.34 WHIP – PHI
SP	#39	Kyle Bradish	26	RHP	4-7, 4.90 ERA, 111 Ks, 1.40 WHIP

–	NO.	BULLPEN	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
CP	#74	Félix Bautista	27	RHP	15 SVs, 2.19 ERA, 88 Ks, 0.93 WHIP
SU	#43	Bryan Baker	28	RHP	1 SV, 3.49 ERA, 76 Ks, 1.23 WHIP
RP	#45	Keegan Akin	27	LHP	2 SVs, 3.20 ERA, 77 Ks, 1.09 WHIP
RP	#60	Mychal Givens	32	RHP	2 SVs, 3.38 ERA, 71 Ks, 1.32 WHIP – CHC/NYM
RP	#79	Nick Vespi	27	LHP	1 SV, 4.10 ERA, 28 Ks, 1.41 WHIP
RP	#58	Cionel Pérez	26	LHP	1 SV, 1.40 ERA, 55 Ks, 1.16 WHIP
RP	#34	Joey Krehbiel	30	RHP	1 SV, 3.90 ERA, 45 Ks, 1.23 WHIP
RP	#51	Austin Voth	30	RHP	5-4, 4.34 ERA, 90 Ka, 1.40 WHIP – WSH/BAL

POS	NO.	INJURED LIST	Age	B/T	Injury
SP	#47	John Means	29	LHP	Tommy John Surgery Potential return in July
RP	#55	Dillon Tate	28	RHP	Forearm strain Potential return in May

DEPTH PIECES/AAA STARTERS:
Mike Baumann – #53 (SP, Age: 27, RHP)
Logan Gillaspie – #71 (RP, Age: 25, RHP)
Bruce Zimmermann – #50 (SP, Age: 28, LHP)
Spenser Watkins – #52 (SP, Age: 30, RHP)

TOP PROSPECTS WHO COULD MAKE THEIR DEBUTS IN 2023:
Grayson Rodriguez (P, Age: 23, RHP, MLB Rank: #7)
Colton Cowser (OF, Age: 22, L/R, MLB Rank: #40)
DL Hall (P, Age: 24, LHP, MLB Rank: #97)
Joey Ortiz (INF, Age: 24, R/R, MLB Rank: #99)
Connor Norby (2B, Age: 22, R/R, BAL Rank: #9)

NOTABLE NON-ROSTER INVITES:
Franchy Cordero (1B/OF, Age: 28, L/R)
Lewin Díaz (1B, Age: 26, L/L)
Ryan O’Hearn (1B/DH, Age: 29, L/L)
Nomar Mazara (OF, Age: 28, L/L)
Daz Cameron (OF, Age: 26, R/R)
Darwinzon Hernandez (RP, LHP, Age: 26)

*Mateo led the AL with 35 SB’s

PAUL’S THOUGHTS:
MVP: C Adley Rutschman
Breakout Player: 3B Gunnar Henderson
Grade: C
Lineup Rank: 10th
Rotation Rank: 13th
Bullpen Rank: 13th

A year ago we saw the Orioles jump from rebuilders to a work in progress, although this isn’t a groundbreaking accomplishment, they are slightly ahead of schedule. The offense is beginning to come together with young bats Austin Hays, Ryan Mountcasle, Cedric Mullins, and Adley Rutschman headlining the way. Rutschman was baseball’s top prospect at this time a year ago, and bursted onto the scene becoming what some consider already a top 3 backstop in the game. Anthony Santander remains the power in the middle of the lineup, and new #1 prospect in baseball Gunnar Henderson is set to play his first full season in the bigs. A couple of vets were added in slap hitting Adam Frazier and James McCann who will serve as the backup to Adley.

On the pitching end, well that’s still a work in progress. Young arms Dean Kremer and Tyler Wells both had very positive seasons and look to be solid rotational pieces. Their ace John Means will be sidelined until the summer after having Tommy John surgery early in 2022. The rotation can be finished off in a variety of ways with vet Kyle Gibson and youngsters Irvin, Bradish, Baumann, Voth, and more in the mix. The AL East will be tough once again, with the Yankees and Jays seeming like the teams to beat. But I can see another positive year in Baltimore, as this squad can burst some bubbles and probably finish right around .500.

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Boston Red Sox

Manager: Alex Cora
5th year, Career/Team record: 362-286, Playoffs: 17-8 – AGE: 47

POS	NO.	LINEUP	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
2B	#5	Enrique Hernández	31	R/R	.222 AVG, 6 HR, 45 RBI, .291 OBP
3B	#11	Rafael Devers	26	L/R	.295 AVG, 27 HR, 88 RBI, 8 SB
RF	#99	Alex Verdugo	26	L/L	.280 AVG, 11 HR, 74 RBI, .328 OBP
LF	#18	Adam Duvall	34	R/R	.213 AVG, 12 HR, 36 RBI, .276 OBP – ATL
DH	#2	Justin Turner	38	R/R	.278 AVG, 13 HR, 81 RBI, .350 OBP – LAD
1B	#36	Triston Casas (R)	23	L/R	.197 AVG, 5 HR, 12 RBI, .358 OBP
C	#3	Reese McGuire	27	L/R	.269 AVG, 3 HR, 22 RBI, .307 OBP – CWS/BOS
CF	#16	Jarren Duran (R)	26	L/R	.221 AVG, 3 HR, 17 RBI, 7 SB
SS	#43	Adalberto Mondesí	27	S/R	7/50, 0 HR, 3 RBI, 5 SB – KC

POS	NO.	BENCH	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
C	#12	Connor Wong (R)	26	R/R	9/48, 1 HR, 7 RBI, .273 OBP
UTIL	#39	Christian Arroyo	27	R/R	.286 AVG, 6 HR, 36 RBI, 5 SB
OF	#7	Masataka Yoshida (R)	29	S/R	DNP – Played in NPB
OF	#30	Rob Refsnyder	31	R/R	.307 AVG, 6 HR, 21 RBI. .384 OBP

–	NO.	ROTATION	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
SP	#41	Chris Sale	33	LHP	2 GS, 5.2 IP, 3.18 ERA, 5 Ks
SP	#28	Corey Kluber	36	RHP	10-10, 4.34 ERA, 139 Ks, 1.21 WHIP – TB
SP	#65	James Paxton	34	LHP	DNP – Tommy John Surgery
SP	#25	Josh Winckowski	24	RHP	5-7, 5.89 ERA, 44 Ks, 1.59 WHIP
SP	#22	Garrett Whitlock	26	RHP	4-2, 3.45 ERA, 82 Ks, 1.02 WHIP

–	NO.	BULLPEN	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
CP	#74	Kenley Jansen	35	RHP	41 SVs*, 3.38 ERA, 85 Ks, 1.05 WHIP – ATL
SU	#89	Tanner Houck	26	RHP	8 SVs, 3.15 ERA, 56 Ks, 1.18 WHIP
RP	#55	Chris Martin	36	RHP	2 SVs, 3.05 ERA, 74 Ks, 0.98 WHIP – CHC/LAD
RP	#57	Joely Rodríguez	31	LHP	55 GP, 4.47 ERA, 57 Ks, 1.35 WHIP – NYM
RP	#46	John Schreiber	28	RHP	8 SVs, 2.22 ERA, 74 Ks, 0.98 WHIP
RP	#35	Richard Bleier	35	LHP	1 SV, 3.55 ERA, 32 Ks, 1.44 WHIP – MIA
RP	#70	Ryan Brasier	35	RHP	1 SV, 5.78 ERA, 64 Ks, 1.30 WHIP
RP	#37	Nick Pivetta	30	RHP	10-12, 4.56 ERA, 175 Ks, 1.38 WHIP

POS	NO.	INJURED LIST	Age	B/T	Injury
SS	#27	Trevor Story	30	R/R	Elbow surgery Potential return in August

DEPTH PIECES/AAA STARTERS:
Kutter Crawford – #50 (SP, Age: 26, RHP)
Brayan Bello – #66 (SP, Age: 23, RHP)
Bobby Dalbec – #29 (1B, Age: 27, R/R)
Yu Chang – #12 (UTIL, Age: 27, R/R)

TOP PROSPECTS WHO COULD MAKE THEIR DEBUTS IN 2023:
Ceddanne Rafaela (OF/SS, Age: 22, R/R, MLB Rank: #86)
Bryan Mata (P, Age: 23, RHP, BOS Rank: #7)
Brandon Walter (P, Age: 26, LHP, BOS Rank: #8)

NOTABLE NON-ROSTER INVITES:
Dan Altavilla (RP, Age: 30, RHP)
Jorge Alfaro (C, Age: 30, R/R)
Niko Goodrum (UTIL, Age: 31, S/R)
Raimel Tapia (OF, Age: 29, L/L)

*Jansen led the NL with 41 saves

PAUL’S THOUGHTS:
MVP: 3B Rafael Devers
Breakout Player: CF Jarren Duran 
Grade: C+
Lineup Rank: 12th
Rotation Rank: 11th
Bullpen Rank: 7th

The Red Sox to me are truly a mystery, and I think plenty of fans would agree with me. Are they in a rebuild? Are they trying to go all in? Well they let Xander Bogaerts walk and gave a $100m deal to an unproven NPB stud in Masataka Yoshida, that some consider was an overpay. They did extend Rafael Devers to be their franchise cornerstone, while adding veteran bats Adam Duvall and Justin Turner to sure up the middle of the lineup. Former top prospects Jarren Duran and Triston Casas should see much bigger roles this year with CF and 1B up for grabs. A quiet and somewhat underrated move was adding speedster Adalberto Mondesi who was an all-star level SS before injuries derailed his 2021 and 2022 campaigns.

On the pitching front it’s also very tough to predict, with big question marks around veterans James Paxton and Chris Sale who are both returning from big injuries. What they get out of those two can be the deciding factor on what their rotation truly ends up becoming. Corey Kluber was also added to aid the middle of the rotation, and the bottom two spots can be any combination of young prospects Winckowski, Whitlock, Houck, or Bello. After an up and down year that still led to the league lead in saves, Kenley Jansen was added to be the lockdown closer amongst a bullpen of veterans in Bleier, Martin, Rodriguez, and Brasier. I don’t see Boston being much of a contender, as their weird mix of veterans and unproven young players makes their outlook pretty foggy. I could end up being very surprised though as I did not see their run to the ALCS in 2021 coming at all.

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New York Yankees

Manager: Aaron Boone
6th year, Career/Team record: 427-281, Playoffs: 14-17 – AGE: 50

POS	NO.	LINEUP	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
2B	#26	D.J. LeMahieu	34	R/R	.261 AVG, 12 HR, 46 RBI, .367 OBP
LF	#99	Aaron Judge	30	R/R	.311 AVG, 62 HR*, 131 RBI*, 16 SB
1B	#48	Anthony Rizzo	33	L/L	.224 AVG, 32 HR, 75 RBI, .338 OBP
RF	#27	Giancarlo Stanton	33	R/R	.211 AVG, 31 HR, 78 RBI, .297 OBP
DH	#25	Gleyber Torres	26	R/R	.257 AVG, 24 HR, 76 RBI, 10 SB
3B	#28	Josh Donaldson	37	R/R	.222 AVG, 15 HR, 62 RBI, .308 OBP
CF	#22	Harrison Bader	28	R/R	.250 AVG, 5 HR, 30 RBI, 17 SB – STL/NYY
C	#39	José Trevino	30	R/R	.248 AVG, 11 HR, 43 RBI, .283 OBP
SS	#77	Anthony Volpe (R)	21	R/R	MLB Rank: #5

POS	NO.	BENCH	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
C	#66	Kyle Higashioka	32	R/R	.227 AVG, 10 HR, 31 RBI, .264 OBP
UTIL	#95	Oswaldo Cabrera	23	S/R	.247 AVG, 6 HR, 19 RBI, 3 SB
INF	#12	Isiah Kiner-Falefa	27	R/R	.261 AVG, 4 HR, 48 RBI, 22 SB
OF	#31	Aaron Hicks	33	S/R	.216 AVG, 8 HR, 40 RBI, 10 SB

–	NO.	ROTATION	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
SP	#45	Gerrit Cole	32	RHP	13-8, 3.50 ERA, 257 Ks**, 1.02 WHIP
SP	#55	Carlos Rodón	30	LHP	14-8, 2.88 ERA, 237 Ks, 1.03 WHIP – SF
SP	#65	Nestor Cortes	28	LHP	12-4, 2.44 ERA, 163 Ks, 0.92 WHIP
SP	#40	Luis Severino	29	RHP	7-3, 3.18 ERA, 112 Ks, 1.00 WHIP
SP	#0	Domingo Germán	30	RHP	2-5, 3.61 ERA, 58 Ks, 1.16 WHIP

–	NO.	BULLPEN	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
CP	#35	Clay Holmes	29	RHP	20 SVs, 2.54 ERA, 65 Ks, 1.02 WHIP
SU	#41	Tommy Kahnle	33	RHP	1 SV, 2.84 ERA, 14 Ks, 0.63 WHIP – LAD
RP	#56	Lou Trivino	31	RHP	11 SVs, 4.53 ERA, 67 Ks, 1.64 WHIP – OAK/NYY
RP	#58	Wandy Peralta	31	LHP	4 SVs, 2.72 ERA, 47 Ks, 1.05 WHIP
RP	#43	Jonathan Loáisiga	28	RHP	2 SVs, 4.13 ERA, 37 Ks, 1.29 WHIP
RP	#84	Albert Abreu	27	RHP	33 GP, 3.26 ERA, 38 Ks, 1.47 WHIP – TEX/KC/NYY
RP	#86	Clarke Schmidt	27	RHP	2 SVs, 3.12 ERA, 56 Ks, 1.20 WHIP
RP	#34	Michael King	27	RHP	1 SV, 2.29 ERA, 66 Ks, 1.00 WHIP

POS	NO.	INJURED LIST	Age	B/T	Injury
SP	#47	Frankie Montas	29	RHP	Shoulder surgery Potential return in August
RP	#59	Scott Effross	29	RHP	Tommy John Surgery Likely will miss entire season

DEPTH PIECES/AAA STARTERS:
Ron Marinaccio – #97 (RP, Age: 27, RHP)
Deivi Garcia – #83 (SP, Age: 23, RHP)
Luis Gil – #81 (RP, Age: 24, RHP)
Ben Rortvedt – #38 (C, Age: 25, L/R)
Oswald Peraza – #91 (SS, Age: 22, R/R)
Estevan Florial – #90 (OF, Age: 25, L/R)

TOP PROSPECTS WHO COULD MAKE THEIR DEBUTS IN 2023:
Austin Wells (C, Age: 23, L/R, NYY Rank: #4)
Will Warren (P, Age: 23, RHP, NYY Rank: #9)

NOTABLE NON-ROSTER INVITES:
Wilmer Difo (UTIL, Age: 31, S/R)
Willie Calhoun (OF, Age: 28, L/R)
Billy McKinney (OF, Age: 28, L/L)
Rafael Ortega (OF, Age: 31, L/R)

*Judge led the AL in both HR’s and RBI’s
**Cole led the AL in K’s

PAUL’S THOUGHTS:
MVP: RF Aaron Judge
Breakout Player: SS Anthony Volpe
Grade: A-
Lineup Rank: 4th
Rotation Rank: 1st
Bullpen Rank: 5th

If we have learned anything over the past couple of years, it is that the Yankees play second fiddle to the Astros in the American League. Now as a Mets fan I’m not trying to rip into them, I just think it has become quite apparent. But their attack this offseason was top notch as they addressed every issue they needed in my opinion. Aaron Judge needed to be brought back and I think they both knew it. He supplied the entire offense in a season that was uncharacteristic to the Bombers, great pitching and low run support. Most of the veteran core that struggled is back including Rizzo, Donaldson, Torres, and Stanton. The big hope is that these veterans will get back to their old ways and figure out what role they can have around a stud like Judge.

The rotation was the talk of the Bronx last year, as the team saw so many big time performances from fringe rotation pieces. Severino came back super strong, Taillon and Montgomery (until traded) provided solid innings and Nestor Cortes became an all-star. Carlos Rodon was added, a huge get that will pair up with Cole and Cortes in the top of that staff. And after seeing a lot of the young arms contribute in the bullpen, the Yanks decided to let a couple of vets walk in Chapman, Britton, and Green, and give Loaisiga, Abreu, Schmidt, King, Marinaccio, and more chances to shine. The AL East still runs through the Yanks, and unless the Jays can truly take that next step that they have been able to accomplish yet, I don’t see them not winning the division.

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Tampa Bay Rays

Manager: Kevin Cash
9th year, Career/Team record: 640-554, Playoffs: 15-17 – AGE: 45

POS	NO.	LINEUP	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
2B	#8	Brandon Lowe	28	L/R	.221 AVG, 8 HR, 25 RBI, .308 OBP
SS	#5	Wander Franco	21	S/R	.277 AVG, 6 HR, 33 RBI, 8 SB
LF	#56	Randy Arozarena	27	R/R	.263 AVG, 20 HR, 89 RBI, 32 SB
3B	#2	Yandy Díaz	31	R/R	.296 AVG, 9 HR, 57 RBI, .401 OBP
RF	#13	Manuel Margot	28	R/R	.274 AVG, 4 HR, 47 RBI, 7 SB
1B	#14	Christian Bethancourt	31	R/R	.252 AVG, 11 HR, 34 RBI, 5 SB – OAK/TB
DH	#43	Harold Ramírez	28	R/R	.300 AVG, 6 HR, 58 RBI, 3 SB
C	#21	Francisco Mejía	27	S/R	.242 AVG, 6 HR, 31 RBI, .264 OBP
CF	#22	José Siri	27	R/R	.213 AVG, 7 HR, 24 RBI, 20 SB – HOU/TB

POS	NO.	BENCH	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
INF	#17	Isaac Paredes	24	R/R	.205 AVG, 20 HR, 45 RBI, .304 OBP
UTIL	#7	Vidal Bruján	25	S/R	.163 AVG, 3 HR, 16 RBI, 5 SB
INF	#6	Taylor Walls	26	S/R	.172 AVG, 8 HR, 33 RBI, 10 SB
OF	#15	Josh Lowe	25	L/R	.221 AVG, 2 HR, 13 RBI, 3 SB

–	NO.	ROTATION	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
SP	#18	Shane McClanahan	25	LHP	12-8, 2.54 ERA, 194 Ks, 0.93 WHIP
SP	#24	Zach Eflin	28	RHP	3-5, 4.04 ERA, 65 Ks, 1.12 WHIP – PHI
SP	#20	Tyler Glasnow	29	RHP	2 GS, 6.2 IP, 1.35 ERA, 10 Ks
SP	#57	Drew Rasmussen	27	RHP	11-7, 2.84 ERA, 125 Ks, 1.04 WHIP
SP	#59	Jeffrey Springs	30	LHP	9-5, 2.46 ERA, 144 Ks, 1.07 WHIP

–	NO.	BULLPEN	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
CP	#81	Ryan Thompson	30	RHP	3 SVs, 3.80 ERA, 39 Ks, 1.17 WHIP
SU	#29	Pete Fairbanks	29	RHP	8 SVs, 1.13 ERA, 38 Ks, 0.67 WHIP
RP	#68	Jalen Beeks	29	LHP	2 SVs, 2.80 ERA, 70 Ks, 1.16 WHIP
RP	#38	Colin Poche	29	LHP	7 SVs, 3.99 ERA, 64 Ks, 1.16 WHIP
RP	#47	Jason Adam	31	RHP	8 SVs, 1.56 ERA, 75 Ks, 0.76 WHIP
RP	#64	Shawn Armstrong	32	RHP	2 SVs, 4.38 ERA, 66 Ks, 1.35 WHIP – MIA/TB
RP	#60	Garrett Cleavinger	29	LHP	23 IP, 3.91 ERA, 32 Ks, 0.91 WHIP – LAD/TB
RP	#72	Yonny Chirinos	29	RHP	2 GP, 7 IP, 0.00 ERA, 6 Ks

POS	NO.	INJURED LIST	Age	B/T	Injury
SP	#11	Shane Baz	23	RHP	Tommy John Surgery Likely to miss entire season
RP	#36	Andrew Kittredge	32	RHP	Tommy John Surgery Potential return in August

DEPTH PIECES/AAA STARTERS:
Luis Patiño – #1 (SP, Age: 23, RHP)
Josh Fleming – #19 (RP, Age: 26, LHP)
Calvin Faucher – #58 (RP, Age: 27, RHP)
Rene Pinto – #50 (C, Age: 26, R/R)
Luke Raley – #55 (OF, Age: 28, L/R)

TOP PROSPECTS WHO COULD MAKE THEIR DEBUTS IN 2023:
Taj Bradley (P, Age: 21, RHP, MLB Rank: #20)
Curtis Mead (3B, Age: 22, R/R, MLB Rank: #33)
Kyle Manzardo (1B, Age: 22, L/R, TB Rank: #4)
Osleivis Basabe (INF, Age: Age: 22, R/R, TB Rank: #7)

NOTABLE NON-ROSTER INVITES:
Kyle Crick (RP, Age: 30, RHP)
Heath Hembree (RP, Age: 34, RHP)
Ben Gamel (OF, Age: 30, L/L)

PAUL’S THOUGHTS:
MVP: SP Shane McClanahan
Breakout Player: C Francisco Mejia
Grade: B
Lineup Rank: 11th
Rotation Rank: 7th
Bullpen Rank: 2nd

The Rays once again had a quiet offseason, in turn planning on letting their developed core speak for itself. Tampa has always been the strange exception to not having to spend big, as their developmental team especially on the pitching side, is possibly the best in the game. The lineup will anchor familiar faces Randy Arozarena, Brandon Lowe, Wander Franco, and Manuel Margot. Yandy Diaz got an extension this offseason after a career year as the team’s best hitter in 2022. Stud phenom Wander Franco looks to bounce back after an injury filled season, and former top prospects Vidal Brujan and Taylor Walls will look to make names for themselves.

The pitching on the other hand is something you never need to worry about. Their core of McClanahan, Glasnow, Rasmussen, and Springs had dominant years as McClanahan found himself making the all-star team. Long-time Phillie middle rotation man Zach Eflin was added after showcasing dominance in the bullpen on their run to the World Series last season. The team now has five legitimate starters and may not incorporate the opener tactic as much as they used to. Pete Fairbanks and Jason Adam bursted onto the scene with amazing years out of the bullpen as they’ll be added to the core with Poche, Thompson, Beeks, and Chirinos. Tampa will be in the mix as they always are, but it will be an interesting fight to see if they can jump atop the Blue Jays or Yankees.

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Toronto Blue Jays

Manager: John Schneider
2nd year, Career/Team record: 46-28, Playoffs: 0-2 – AGE: 43

POS	NO.	LINEUP	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
CF	#4	George Springer	33	R/R	.267 AVG, 25 HR, 76 RBI, 14 SB
SS	#11	Bo Bichette	24	R/R	.290 AVG, 24 HR, 93 RBI, 13 SB
1B	#27	Vladimir Guerrero Jr.	23	R/R	.274 AVG, 32 HR, 97 RBI, 8 SB
C	#30	Alejandro Kirk	24	R/R	.285 AVG, 14 HR, 63 RBI, .372 OBP
3B	#26	Matt Chapman	29	R/R	.229 AVG, 27 HR, 76 RBI, .324 OBP
DH	#13	Brandon Belt	34	L/L	.213 AVG, 8 HR, 23 RBI, .326 OBP – SF
RF	#15	Whit Merrifield	34	R/R	.250 AVG, 11 HR, 58 RBI, 16 SB – KC/TOR
2B	#5	Santiago Espinal	28	R/R	.267 AVG, 7 HR, 51 RBI, 6 SB
LF	#25	Daulton Varsho	26	L/R	.235 AVG, 27 HR, 74 RBI, 16 SB – ARI

POS	NO.	BENCH	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
C	#9	Danny Jansen	27	R/R	.260 AVG, 15 HR, 44 RBI, .339 OBP
UTIL	#8	Cavan Biggio	27	L/R	.202 AVG, 6 HR, 24 RBI, .318 OBP
INF	#51	Otto Lopez (R)	24	R/R	6/9, 0 HR, 3 RBI, .700 OBP
OF	#39	Kevin Kiermaier	32	L/R	.228 AVG, 7 HR, 22 RBI, 6 SB – TB

–	NO.	ROTATION	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
SP	#6	Alek Manoah	25	RHP	16-7, 2.24 ERA, 180 Ks, 0.99 WHIP
SP	#34	Kevin Gausman	32	RHP	12-10, 3.35 ERA, 205 Ks, 1.24 WHIP
SP	#17	José Berríos	28	RHP	12-7, 5.23 ERA, 1.49 Ks, 1.42 WHIP
SP	#40	Chris Bassitt	34	RHP	15-9, 3.42 ERA, 167 Ks, 1.14 WHIP – NYM
SP	#16	Yusei Kikuchi	31	LHP	6-7, 5.19 ERA, 124 Ks, 1.50 WHIP

–	NO.	BULLPEN	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
CP	#68	Jordan Romano	29	RHP	36 SVs, 2.11 ERA, 73 Ks, 1.02 WHIP
SU	#52	Anthony Bass	35	RHP	70.1 IP, 1.54 ERA, 73 Ks, 1.01 WHIP – MIA/TOR
RP	#90	Adam Cimber	32	RHP	4 SVs, 2.80 ERA, 58 Ks, 1.12 WHIP
RP	#93	Yimi García	32	RHP	1 SV, 3.10 ERA, 58 Ks, 1.05 WHIP
RP	#58	Tim Mayza	31	LHP	2 SVs, 3.14 ERA, 44 Ks, 1.11 WHIP
RP	#56	Zach Pop	26	RHP	39 IP, 2.77 ERA, 25 Ks, 1.15 WHIP – MIA/TOR
RP	#50	Erik Swanson	29	RHP	3 SVs, 1.68 ERA, 70 Ks, 0.91 WHIP – SEA
RP	#55	Trevor Richards	29	RHP	3-2, 5.34 ERA, 82 Ks, 1.44 WHIP

POS	NO.	INJURED LIST	Age	B/T	Injury
SP	#99	Hyun-Jin Ryu	35	LHP	Tommy John Surgery Potential to return in June
RP	#37	Chad Green	31	RHP	Tommy John Surgery Potential to return in August

DEPTH PIECES/AAA STARTERS:
Nate Pearson – #24 (SP, Age: 26, RHP)
Zach Thompson – #46 (RP, Age: 29, RHP)
Mitch White – #45 (SP, Age: 28, RHP)
Trent Thornton – #57 (RP, Age: 29, RHP)

TOP PROSPECTS WHO COULD MAKE THEIR DEBUTS IN 2023:
Yosver Zulueta (P, Age: 25, RHP, TOR Rank: #3)
Addison Barger (INF, Age: 23, L/R, TOR Rank: #6)
Hayden Juenger (P, Age: 22, RHP, TOR Rank: #10)

NOTABLE NON-ROSTER INVITES:
Luke Bard (RP, Age: 32, RHP)
Paul Fry (RP, Age: 30, LHP)
Jay Jackson (RP, Age: 35, RHP)
Drew Hutchison (RP, Age: 32, RHP)

PAUL’S THOUGHTS:
MVP: 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Breakout Player: OF/C Daulton Varsho
Grade: B+
Lineup Rank: 2nd
Rotation Rank: 4th
Bullpen Rank: 6th

The Blue Jays enter the new year fresh off a Wild Card berth in what seemed like a disappointing year to the fanbase. After adding stars Kevin Gausman, Matt Chapman, and Whit Merrifield, with breakout seasons from Jordan Romano and Alek Manoah, they couldn’t fight off the Yankees who owned the division from beginning to end. The team comes back with a relatively similar roster, with a lineup headlined by Springer, Bichette, Vlad Jr., Kirk, Merrifield, and more. Long-time Giant Brandon Belt was added to take over the DH spot while Teoscar Hernandez left. Daulton Varsho was acquired from Arizona, a versatile power hitter who can do everything like catch and man the outfield. On paper this is one of, if not the best, lineups in the AL. Things just need to click.

Pitching wise saw some dominance in 2022 with the Cy Young caliber season by Manoah and dominance from Gausman. However, bounce back years need to come from Jose Berrios and Yusei Kikuchi, two guys who are getting paid big money and need to be more reliable. Chris Bassitt was an underrated move as the 34-year-old is coming off arguably his best season of his career for the Mets while playing for the A’s beforehand. I love the bullpen, as it’s filled with a bunch of good arms who eat up innings and dominate. The Zach Pop and Anthony Bass trade helped them a ton to end last season and should continue to do just the same. My hunch is that things finally click this year as John Schneider enters his first full season at the helm. It’s tough to take them over the Yankees but they should be right in that same mix as a World Series contender.

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Chicago White Sox

Manager: Pedro Grifol
1st year – AGE: 53

POS	NO.	LINEUP	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
SS	#7	Tim Anderson	29	R/R	.301 AVG, 6 HR, 25 RBI, 13 SB
LF	#23	Andrew Benintendi	28	L/L	.304 AVG, 5 HR, 51 RBI, 8 SB – KC/NYY
CF	#88	Luis Robert	25	R/R	.284 AVG, 12 HR, 56 RBI, 11 SB
RF	#79	Eloy Jimenez	26	R/R	.295 AVG, 16 HR, 54 RBI, .358 OBP
1B	#25	Andrew Vaughn	24	R/R	.271 AVG, 17 HR, 76 RBI, .750 OPS
3B	#10	Yoán Moncada	27	S/R	.212 AVG, 12 HR, 51 RBI, .273 OBP
DH	#32	Gavin Sheets	26	L/L	.241 AVG, 15 HR, 53 RBI, .706 OPS
2B	#30	Jake Burger	26	R/R	.250 AVG, 8 HR, 26 RBI, .302 OBP
C	#24	Yasmani Grandal	34	S/R	.202 AVG, 5 HR, 27 RBI, .301 OBP

POS	NO.	BENCH	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
C	#44	Seby Zavala	29	R/R	.270 AVG, 2 HR, 21 RBI, .347 OBP
SS/2B	#1	Elvis Andrus	34	R/R	.249 AVG, 17 HR, 58 RBI, 18 SB – OAK/CWS
UTIL	#28	Leury García	31	S/R	.210 AVG, 3 HR, 20 RBI, 2 SB
OF	#22	Victor Reyes	28	S/R	.254 AVG, 3 HR, 34 RBI, 2 SB – DET

–	NO.	ROTATION	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
SP	#27	Lucas Giolito	28	RHP	11-9, 4.90 ERA, 177 Ks, 1.44 WHIP
SP	#84	Dylan Cease	27	RHP	14-8, 2.20 ERA, 227 Ks, 1.11 WHIP
SP	#33	Lance Lynn	35	RHP	8-7, 3.99 ERA, 124 Ks, 1.14 WHIP
SP	#34	Michael Kopech	26	RHP	5-9, 3.54 ERA, 105 Ks, 1.19 WHIP
SP	#52	Mike Clevinger	32	RHP	7-7, 4.33 ERA, 91 Ks, 1.20 WHIP – SD

–	NO.	BULLPEN	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
CP	#49	Kendall Graveman	32	RHP	6 SVs, 3.18 ERA, 66 Ks, 1.40 WHIP
SU	#39	Aaron Bummer	29	LHP	2 SVs, 2.36 ERA, 30 Ks, 1.50 WHIP
RP	#17	Joe Kelly	34	RHP	1 SV, 6.08 ERA, 53 Ks, 1.59 WHIP
RP	#63	Matt Foster	28	RHP	1 SV, 4.40 ERA, 42 Ks, 1.33 WHIP
RP	#55	Jake Diekman	36	LHP	1 SV, 4.99 ERA, 79 Ks, 1.63 WHIP – BOS/CWS
RP	#66	José Ruiz	28	RHP	60.2 IP, 4.60 ERA, 68 Ks, 1.42 WHIP
RP	#40	Reynaldo López	29	RHP	65.1 IP, 2.76 ERA, 63 Ks, 0.95 WHIP
RP	#58	Jimmy Lambert	28	RHP	47 IP, 3.26 ERA, 45 Ks, 1.36 WHIP

POS	NO.	INJURED LIST	Age	B/T	Injury
CP	#31	Liam Hendriks	34	RHP	Cancer diagnosis No timetable to return
RP	#45	Garrett Crochet	23	LHP	Tommy John Surgery Potential return in May

DEPTH PIECES/AAA STARTERS:
A.J. Alexy – #59 (RP, Age: 24, RHP)
Tanner Banks – #57 (RP, Age: 31, LHP)
Jonathan Stiever – #53 (RP, Age: 25, RHP)
Carlos Perez – #36 (C, Age: 26, R/R)
Romy Gonzalez – #12 (2B, Age: 26, R/R)
Lenyn Sosa – #50 (INF, Age: 23, R/R)

TOP PROSPECTS WHO COULD MAKE THEIR DEBUTS IN 2023:
Oscar Colas (OF, Age: 24, L/L, MLB Rank: #85)
Sean Burke (P, Age: 23, RHP, CWS Rank: #5)
Jose Rodriguez (SS, Age: 21, R/R, CWS Rank: #6)

NOTABLE NON-ROSTER INVITES:
Keynan Middleton (RP, Age: 29, RHP)
Hanser Alberto (UTIL, Age: 30, R/R)
Adam Haseley (OF, Age: 27, L/L)
Jake Marisnick (OF, Age: 32, R/R)
Billy Hamilton (OF, Age: 32, R/R)

PAUL’S THOUGHTS:
MVP: SP Dylan Cease
Breakout Player: 1B/OF Andrew Vaughn
Grade: B-
Lineup Rank: 6th
Rotation Rank: 8th
Bullpen Rank: 10th

The White Sox saw a season filled with a ton of instability and drama in a questionable 2022. The Tony La Russa era has come and gone in just two years and it seems like it’s for the best. Long-time Royals bench coach Pedro Grifol will take control of a young team that is built to win now. The offense will look relatively the same, with young stars Robert, Jimenez, and Moncada all looking to have bounce back seasons. Andrew Benintendi was the big bat added, who is a clear upgrade from A.J. Pollock in LF. Elvis Andrus has re-signed and with a fully healthy team, he should be the fifth infielder, getting more time at 2B than at his traditional SS.

On the pitching side, the top of the rotation struggled a bit while the bottom emerged as dominant. Dylan Cease had an incredible second half, thrusting himself into a finalist for AL Cy Young, as he looks like the new ace of the rotation. Johnny Cueto also provided solid innings but left to join the Marlins. Lance Lynn and Lucas Giolito struggled and battled injuries throughout. Kopech remained consistent and Mike Clevinger will take the spot of Cueto. In the bullpen, star closer Liam Hendriks shared his diagnoses of Lymphoma and will hopefully be back sooner than later. Kendall Gravemen should see time as the ninth inning man in the meantime. There’s a lot on the line in 2023, as the Sox have no excuse to not be a playoff team. If fully healthy they can make some noise, but it’s far from a guarantee.

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Cleveland Guardians

Manager: Terry Francona
11th year in CLE, Career record: 1,874-1,586, Team record: 845-671, Playoffs: 44-34 – AGE: 64

POS	NO.	LINEUP	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
LF	#38	Steven Kwan	25	L/L	.298 AVG, 6 HR, 52 RBI, 19 SB
SS	#1	Amed Rosario	27	R/R	.283 AVG, 11 HR, 71 RBI, 18 SB
3B	#11	José Ramírez	30	S/R	.280 AVG, 29 HR, 126 RBI, 20 SB
1B	#55	Josh Bell	30	S/R	.266 AVG, 17 HR, 71 RBI, .784 OPS – WSH/SD
DH	#22	Josh Naylor	25	L/L	.256 AVG, 20 HR, 79 RBI, .771 OPS
2B	#0	Andrés Giménez	24	L/R	.297 AVG, 17 HR, 69 RBI, 20 SB
RF	#39	Oscar González	25	R/R	.296 AVG, 11 HR, 43 RBI, .789 OPS
C	#10	Mike Zunino	31	R/R	.148 AVG, 5 HR, 16 RBI, .195 OBP – TB
CF	#7	Myles Straw	28	R/R	.221 AVG, 0 HR, 32 RBI, 21 SB

POS	NO.	BENCH	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
C	#23	Bo Naylor (R)	23	L/R	0/8, 5 Ks
INF	#8	Gabriel Arias (R)	23	R/R	9/47, 1 HR, 4 RBI, .321 OBP
OF	#63	Will Brennan (R)	25	L/L	15/42, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 2 SB
OF	#9	Richie Palacios (R)	25	L/R	.232 AVG, 0 HR, 10 RBI, 2 SB

–	NO.	ROTATION	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
SP	#57	Shane Bieber	27	RHP	13-8, 2.88 ERA, 198 Ks, 1.04 WHIP
SP	#34	Zach Plesac	28	RHP	3-12, 4.31 ERA, 100 Ks, 1.32 WHIP
SP	#24	Triston McKenzie	25	RHP	11-11, 2.96 ERA, 190 Ks, 0.95 WHIP
SP	#47	Cal Quantrill	28	RHP	15-5, 3.38 ERA, 128 Ks, 1.21 WHIP
SP	#43	Aaron Civale	27	RHP	5-6, 4.92 ERA, 98 Ks, 1.19 WHIP

–	NO.	BULLPEN	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
CP	#48	Emmanuel Clase	24	RHP	42 SVs*, 1.36 ERA, 77 Ks, 0.73 WHIP
SU	#99	James Karinchak	27	RHP	3 SVs, 2.08 ERA, 62 Ks, 1.10 WHIP
RP	#52	Nick Sandlin	26	RHP	44 IP, 2.25 ERA, 41 Ks, 1.16 WHIP
RP	#37	Trevor Stephan	27	RHP	3 SVs, 2.69 ERA, 82 Ks, 1.18 WHIP
RP	#62	Enyel De Los Santos	27	RHP	1 SV, 3.04 ERA, 61 Ks, 1.07 WHIP
RP	#68	Joey Cantillo (R)	23	LHP	CLE Rank: #19
RP	#45	Konnor Pilkington	25	LHP	1-2, 3.88 ERA, 50 Ks, 1.47 WHIP
RP	#49	Eli Morgan	26	RHP	66.2 IP, 3.38 ERA, 72 Ks, 0.89 WHIP

POS	NO.	INJURED LIST	Age	B/T	Injury
RP	#31	Sam Hentges	26	LHP	Shoulder injury Potential return in May
RP	#26	Anthony Gose	32	LHP	Tommy John Surgery Likely to miss entire season

DEPTH PIECES/AAA STARTERS:
Xzavion Curry – #71 (SP, Age: 24, RHP)
Cody Morris – #36 (SP, Age: 26, RHP)
Bryan Lavastida – #27 (C, Age: 24, RHP)
Tyler Freeman – #2 (UTIL, Age: 23, R/R)

TOP PROSPECTS WHO COULD MAKE THEIR DEBUTS IN 2023:
Daniel Espino (P, Age: 22, RHP, MLB Rank: #16)
Gavin Williams (P, Age: 23, RHP, MLB Rank: #42)
George Valera (OF, Age: 22, L/L, MLB Rank: #51)
Tanner Bibee (P, Age: 23, RHP, MLB Rank: #65)

NOTABLE NON-ROSTER INVITES:
Touki Toussaint (SP, Age: 26, RHP)
Cam Gallagher (C, Age: 30, R/R)
Zack Collins (C, Age: 28, L/R)
Roman Quinn (OF, Age: 29, S/R)

*Clase led the AL with 42 saves

PAUL’S THOUGHTS:
MVP: 3B Jose Ramirez
Breakout Player: P Daniel Espino
Grade: B+
Lineup Rank: 7th
Rotation Rank: 2nd
Bullpen Rank: 3rd

The Guardians shocked baseball a year ago by winning the AL Central in a year that looked like their rebuild would continue. Andres Gimenez emerged as an all-star infielder, while Amed Rosario has become a well above average SS. Jose Ramirez is a bonafide superstar and has been locked up for the long-term in Cleveland. Josh Naylor, Oscar Gonzalez, and Steven Kwan all look to be viable every day pieces around Ramirez in the lineup. Power hitting 1B Josh Bell was also added in free agency, giving them one more threat in the middle of that order. Several top prospects are all on the horizon as well, with C Bo Naylor, INF Gabriel Arias, and OF’s Will Brennan and Richie Palacios, all ready to impact 2023 after seeing some action last year. Baseball’s #51 prospect George Valera should also be called up soon and make the OF battle more stacked.

The big improvement last year was the offense, but the pitching has always been dominant and was once again. Shane Bieber is a star ace and Triston McKenzie is a very good second option. Top prospects Daniel Espino and Gavin Williams are both on the verge of being called up and it will make for an interesting predicament with how many good arms the team already has. Emmanuel Clase has probably been the league’s best closer over the past two seasons, throwing 100+ while James Karinchak acts as the junk ball pitcher in the setup role. I have honestly high hopes for Cleveland, as they’re well above schedule and can be legitimate contenders not only for their division but also in the AL. They have the pitching, the prospects, and now it looks like the bats too. Don’t be caught sleeping on the Guardians.

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Detroit Tigers

Manager: A.J. Hinch
3rd year in DET, Career record: 713-633, Team record: 143-181, Playoffs: 28-22 – AGE: 49

POS	NO.	LINEUP	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
CF	#31	Riley Greene	22	L/L	.253 AVG, 5 HR, 42 RBI, .321 OBP
RF	#17	Austin Meadows	27	L/L	.250 AVG, 0 HR, 11 RBI, .347 OBP
SS	#28	Javier Báez	30	R/R	.238 AVG, 17 HR, 67 RBI, 9 SB
DH	#24	Miguel Cabrera	39	R/R	.254 AVG, 5 HR, 43 RBI, .622 OPS
2B	#7	Jonathan Schoop	31	R/R	.202 AVG, 11 HR, 38 RBI, 5 SB
C	#13	Eric Haase	30	R/R	.254 AVG, 14 HR, 44 RBI, .748 OPS
LF	#60	Akil Baddoo	24	L/L	.204 AVG, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 9 SB
1B	#20	Spencer Torkelson	23	R/R	.203 AVG, 8 HR, 28 RBI, .285 OBP
3B	#32	Ryan Kreidler (R)	25	R/R	.178 AVG, 1 HR, 6 RBI, .244 OBP

POS	NO.	BENCH	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
C	#34	Jake Rogers	27	R/R	DNP – Tommy John Surgury
UTIL	#7	Nick Maton	26	L/R	.250 AVG, 5 HR, 17 RBI, .855 OPS – PHI
OF/3B	#8	Matt Vierling	26	R/R	.246 AVG, 6 HR, 32 RBI, 7 SB – PHI
OF	#30	Kerry Carpenter (R)	25	L/R	.252 AVG, 6 HR, 10 RBI, .795 OPS

–	NO.	ROTATION	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
SP	#57	Eduardo Rodríguez	29	LHP	5-5, 4.05 ERA, 72 Ks, 1.33 WHIP
SP	#56	Spencer Turnbull	30	RHP	DNP – Tommy John Surgery
SP	#21	Michael Lorenzen	31	RHP	8-6, 4.24 ERA, 85 Ks, 1.28 WHIP – LAA
SP	#25	Matt Manning	25	RHP	2-3, 3.43 ERA, 48 Ks, 1.17 WHIP
SP	#43	Joey Wentz (R)	25	LHP	2-2, 3.03 ERA, 27 Ks, 1.10 WHIP

–	NO.	BULLPEN	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
CP	#67	José Cisnero	33	RHP	25 IP, 1.08 ERA, 23 Ks, 1.36 WHIP
SU	#55	Alex Lange	27	RHP	63.1 IP, 3.69 ERA, 82 Ks, 1.25 WHIP
RP	#68	Jason Foley	27	RHP	60.1 IP, 3.88 ERA, 43 Ks, 1.38 WHIP
RP	#19	Will Vest	27	RHP	1 SV, 4.00 ERA, 63 Ks, 1.33 WHIP
RP	#50	Garrett Hill	27	RHP	3-3, 4.03 ERA, 40 Ks, 1.36 WHIP
RP	#48	Matthew Boyd	32	LHP	13.1 IP, 1.35 ERA, 13 Ks, 0.98 WHIP – SEA
RP	#51	Rony García	25	RHP	3-3, 4.41 ERA, 48 Ks, 1.04 WHIP
RP	#70	Tyler Alexander	28	LHP	4-11, 4.81 ERA, 61 Ks, 1.32 WHIP

POS	NO.	INJURED LIST	Age	B/T	Injury
SP	#12	Casey Mize	25	RHP	Tommy John Surgery Likely to miss entire season
SP	#29	Tarik Skubal	26	LHP	Elbow surgery Potential return in June

DEPTH PIECES/AAA STARTERS:
Beau Brieske – #4 (SP, Age: 24, RHP)
Alex Faedo – #49 (SP, Age: 27, RHP)
Edwin Uceta – #65 (RP, Age: 25, RHP)
Donny Sands – #33 (C, Age: 26, R/R)
Tyler Nevin – #18 (3B/1B, Age: 25, R/R)
Zack Short – #59 (INF, Age: 27, R/R)

TOP PROSPECTS WHO COULD MAKE THEIR DEBUTS IN 2023:
Wilmer Flores (P, Age: 22, RHP, MLB Rank: #95)
Justyn Henry-Malloy (OF/3B, Age: 23, R/R, DET Rank: #7)
Wenceel Perez (2B, Age: 23, S/R, DET Rank: #9)
Parker Meadows (OF, Age: 23, L/R, DET Rank: #12)

NOTABLE NON-ROSTER INVITES:
Chasen Shreve (RP, Age: 32, LHP)
Trey Wingenter (RP, Age: 29, RHP)
Matt Wisler (RP, Age: 30, RHP)
Andrew Knapp (C, Age: 31, S/R)
César Hernández (2B, Age: 33, S/R)
Jonathan Davis (OF, Age: 31, R/R)

PAUL’S THOUGHTS:
MVP: SS Javier Báez
Breakout Player: RP José Cisnero
Grade: C-
Lineup Rank: 13th
Rotation Rank: 12th
Bullpen Rank: 15th

The Tigers’ deep rebuild has been in full effect and the team hopes to take several steps forward in 2023. Similar to Cleveland’s jump last season, Detroit plays in a wide open division and believes they have the pieces to surprise fans. Miguel Cabrera is returning for his final season and hopes to make a playoff run. Some solid bats surround him with Baez, Meadows, Greene, and Schoop beefing up the middle of the lineup. We’ll also see full seasons out of a few intriguing prospects, Kerry Carpenter, Ryan Kreidler, and Spencer Torkelson. The loss of Jeimer Candelario will probably be a sizable one, but this opens 3B for any of the young guys to take.

On the pitching end, former top prospects Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal will be sidelined potentially for the entire season. Spencer Turnbull is also returning from injury, after missing all of 2021 and 2022 due to Tommy John Surgery. Eduardo Rodriguez will look to become the ace the Tigers thought they were signing, and Michael Lorenzen will add more veteran leadership to a very young core. The bullpen can go many different ways, as it is filled out with a plethora of young arms. Jose Cisnero had a dominant 2022 and should be the closer this year. Long-time starter Matthew Boyd returns after a year away with Seattle and may become a lefty arm out of the ‘pen. I don’t see the Tigers doing a whole lot this year, as the Twins, Guardians, and White Sox all look like more legitimate threats. But I also believe this team is not very far off, once they get fully healthy I think they can begin to move the needle in the right direction in 2024 and on.

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Kansas City Royals

Manager: Matt Quatraro
1st year – AGE: 49

POS	NO.	LINEUP	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
RF	#6	Drew Waters (R)	24	S/R	.240 AVG, 5 HR, 18 RBI, .324 OBP
3B	#11	Maikel García (R)	23	R/R	7/22, 0 HR, 2 RBI, .711 OPS
SS	#7	Bobby Witt Jr.	22	R/R	.254 AVG, 20 HR, 80 RBI, 30 SB
C	#13	Salvador Perez	32	R/R	.254 AVG, 23 HR, 76 RBI, .757 OPS
LF	#1	MJ Melendez	24	L/R	.217 AVG, 18 HR, 62 RBI, .313 OBP
1B	#17	Hunter Dozier	31	R/R	.236 AVG, 12 HR, 41 RBI, 4 SB
DH	#9	Vinnie Pasquantino	25	L/L	.295 AVG, 10 HR, 26 RBI, .832 OPS
CF		Jackie Bradley Jr.	33	L/R	.203 AVG, 4 HR, 38 RBI, 2 SB – BOS/TOR
2B	#8	Nicky Lopez	27	L/R	.227 AVG, 0 HR, 20 RBI, 13 SB

POS	NO.	BENCH	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
1B/OF	#32	Nick Pratto	24	L/L	.184 AVG, 7 HR, 20 RBI, .271 OBP
INF	#19	Michael Massey	24	L/R	.243 AVG, 4 HR, 17 RBI, 3 SB
OF	#28	Kyle Isbel	26	L/R	.211 AVG, 5 HR, 28 RBI, 9 SB
OF	#14	Edward Olivares	26	R/R	.286 AVG, 4 HR, 15 RBI, .743 OPS

–	NO.	ROTATION	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
SP	#23	Zack Greinke	39	RHP	4-9, 3.68 ERA, 73 Ks, 1.34 WHIP
SP	#24	Jordan Lyles	32	RHP	12-11, 4.42 ERA, 144 Ks, 1.39 WHIP – BAL
SP	#51	Brady Singer	26	RHP	10-5, 3.23 ERA, 150 Ks, 1.14 WHIP
SP	#52	Daniel Lynch	26	LHP	4-13, 5.13 ERA, 122 Ks, 1.57 WHIP
SP	#56	Brad Keller	27	RHP	6-14, 5.09 ERA, 102 Ks, 1.50 WHIP

–	NO.	BULLPEN	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
CP	#58	Scott Barlow	30	RHP	24 SVs, 2.18 ERA, 77 Ks, 1.00 WHIP
SU	#22	Amir Garrett	30	LHP	45.1 IP, 4.96 ERA, 49 Ks, 1.32 WHIP
RP	#38	Josh Taylor	30	LHP	DNP – Back injury – BOS
RP	#54	Aroldis Chapman	35	LHP	9 SVs, 4.46 ERA, 43 Ks, 1.43 WHIP – NYY
RP	#65	Dylan Coleman	26	RHP	68 IP, 2.78 ERA, 71 Ks, 1.24 WHIP
RP	#45	Taylor Clarke	29	RHP	3 SVs, 4.04 ERA, 48 Ks, 1.18 WHIP
RP	#74	Josh Staumont	29	RHP	3 SVs, 6.45 ERA, 43 Ks, 1.75 WHIP
RP	#48	Ryan Yarbrough	31	LHP	3-8, 4.50 ERA, 61 Ks, 1.38 WHIP – TB

DEPTH PIECES/AAA STARTERS:
Carlos Hernandez – #43 (RP, Age: 24, RHP)
Collin Snider – #40 (RP, Age: 27, RHP)
Richard Lovelady – #55 (RP, Age: 27, LHP)
Jose Cuas – #74 (RP, Age: 28, RHP)
Angel Zerpa – #61 (SP, Age: 23, LHP)
Kris Bubic – #50 (SP, Age: 25, LHP)
Jonathan Heasley – #49 (SP, Age: 26, RHP)
Nate Eaton – #18 (RF, Age: 26, R/R)

TOP PROSPECTS WHO COULD MAKE THEIR DEBUTS IN 2023:
Nick Loftin (UTIL, Age: 24, R/R, KC Rank: #4)
Tyler Gentry (OF, Age: 24, RHP, KC Rank: #8)

NOTABLE NON-ROSTER INVITES:
Nick Wittgren (RP, Age: 32, RHP)
Mike Mayers (RP, Age: 31, RHP)
Johan Camargo (UTIL, Age: 29, S/R)
Matt Duffy (INF, Age: 32, R/R)
Matt Beaty (OF/1B, Age: 30, L/R)
Franmil Reyes (OF, Age: 27, R/R)

PAUL’S THOUGHTS:
MVP: SS Bobby Witt Jr.
Breakout Player: 1B Vinnie Pasquantino
Grade: D
Lineup Rank: 14th
Rotation Rank: 14th
Bullpen Rank: 12th

In what looks like one of the bleakest situations in baseball the Royals come into the year anticipating getting a top pick in the 2024 draft. There are very few bright spots already on the roster, and that does not bode well with the fact they don’t have many big prospects on the horizon. Bobby Witt Jr looks like he is the new face of the franchise and you’ll always have great two-way play with Salvador Perez in the lineup. The key is what they will get out of their 2022 callups, as Drew Waters, Maikel Garcia, MJ Melendez, and Michael Massey should all have big roles from the start. The flexibility of Melendez to catch and play the outfield allows them to add on a veteran such as Jackie Bradley Jr. or Franmil Reyes who are both on minor league deals.

The pitching side fares relatively the same as Zack Greinke returns again on a one-year deal to close his career out where it all started. They did get a good year out of Brady Singer, but the last two rotation spots are up for grabs. Brad Keller, Daniel Lynch, Kris Bubic, Angel Zerpa, and more are all in the mix in hopes that one or two of them develops into a reliable starter. With their mediocre veteran play, unproven rookies, and lack of reinforcements in the minors, it’ll be tough to imagine that KC will compete or even surprise some people this year. Definitely going to be a 60-65 win team in my book.

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Minnesota Twins

Manager: Rocco Baldelli
5th year, Career/Team record: 288-258, Playoffs: 0-5 – AGE: 41

POS	NO.	LINEUP	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
CF	#25	Byron Buxton	29	R/R	.224 AVG, 28 HR, 51 RBI, .833 OPS
SS	#4	Carlos Correa	28	R/R	.291 AVG, 22 HR. 64 RBI, .834 OPS
2B	#11	Jorge Polanco	29	S/R	.235 AVG, 16 HR, 56 RBI, .751 OPS
RF	#26	Max Kepler	30	L/L	.227 AVG, 9 HR, 43 RBI, 3 SB
1B	#64	José Miranda	24	R/R	.268 AVG, 15 HR, 66 RBI, .751 OPS
3B	#12	Kyle Farmer	32	R/R	.255 AVG, 14 HR, 78 RBI, 4 SB – CIN
DH	#13	Joey Gallo	29	L/R	.160 AVG, 19 HR, 47 RBI, .280 OBP – NYY/LAD
C	#8	Christian Vázquez	32	R/R	.274 AVG, 9 HR, 52 RBI, .714 OPS – BOS/HOU
LF	#1	Nick Gordon	27	L/R	.272 AVG, 9 HR, 50 RBI, 6 SB

POS	NO.	BENCH	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
C	#27	Ryan Jeffers	25	R/R	.208 AVG, 7 HR, 27 RBI, .285 OBP
INF	#39	Donovan Solano	35	R/R	.284 AVG, 4 HR, 24 RBI, .724 OPS – CIN
CF	#2	Michael A. Taylor	31	R/R	.254 AVG, 9 HR, 43 RBI, 4 SB – KC
OF/1B	#19	Alex Kirilloff	25	L/L	.250 AVG, 3 HR, 21 RBI, .651 OPS

–	NO.	ROTATION	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
SP	#54	Sonny Gray	33	RHP	8-5, 3.08 ERA, 117 Ks, 1.13 WHIP
SP	#18	Kenta Maeda	34	RHP	DNP – Tommy John Surgery
SP	#49	Pablo López	26	RHP	10-10, 3.75 ERA, 174 Ks, 1.17 WHIP – MIA
SP	#51	Tyler Mahle	28	RHP	6-8, 4.40 ERA, 126 Ks, 1.22 WHIP – CIN/MIN
SP	#41	Joe Ryan	26	RHP	13-8, 3.55 ERA, 151 Ks, 1.10 WHIP

–	NO.	BULLPEN	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
CP	#48	Jorge López	30	RHP	23 SVs, 2.54 ERA, 72 Ks, 1.18 WHIP – BAL/MIN
SU	#59	Jhoan Durán	25	RHP	8 SVs, 1.86 ERA, 89 Ks, 0.98 WHIP
RP	#15	Emilio Pagan	31	RHP	9 SVs, 4.43 ERA, 84 Ks, 1.37 WHIP
RP	#22	Griffin Jax	28	RHP	1 SV, 3.36 ERA, 78 Ks, 1.05 WHIP
RP	#56	Caleb Thielbar	36	LHP	1 SV, 3.49 ERA, 80 Ks, 1.16 WHIP
RP	#66	Jorge Alcala	27	RHP	2.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 2 Ks, 1.71 WHIP
RP	#71	Jovani Morán (R)	25	LHP	1 SV, 2.21 ERA, 54 Ks, 1.06 WHIP
RP	#17	Bailey Ober	27	RHP	2-3, 3.21 ERA, 51 Ks, 1.05 WHIP

POS	NO.	INJURED LIST	Age	B/T	Injury
SS	#23	Royce Lewis (R)	23	R/R	Torn ACL Potential return in June
OF	#21	Gilberto Celestino	24	R/L	UCL injury Potential return in May
SP	#20	Chris Paddack	27	RHP	Tommy John Surgery Potential return in September

DEPTH PIECES/AAA STARTERS:
Trevor Megill – #58 (RP, Age: 29, RHP)
Simeon Woods Richardson – #78 (SP, Age: 22, RHP)
Cole Sands – #77 (SP, Age: 25, RHP)
Louie Varland – #37 (SP, Age: 25, RHP)
Matt Wallner – #38 (OF, Age: 25, L/R)
Trevor Larnach – #9 (OF, Age: 26, L/R)

TOP PROSPECTS WHO COULD MAKE THEIR DEBUTS IN 2023:
Edouard Julien (2B, Age: 23, L/R, MIN Rank: #4)

NOTABLE NON-ROSTER INVITES:
Jeff Hoffman (SP, Age: 30, RHP)
Danny Coulombe (RP, Age: 33, LHP)
Chance Sisco (C, Age: 28, L/R)
Grayson Greiner (C, Age: 30, R/R)
Kyle Garlick (OF, Age: 31, R/R)
Ryan LaMarre (OF, Age: 34, R/L)

PAUL’S THOUGHTS:
MVP: SS Carlos Correa
Breakout Player:
Grade: B
Lineup Rank: 8th
Rotation Rank: 10th
Bullpen Rank: 4th

The Carlos Correa saga left every baseball fan baffled this offseason, but at the end of the day the Twins locked him up long-term. This was the big move and somewhat overshadowed a lot of other solid things Minnesota did this offseason. Kyle Farmer, Joey Gallo, and Christian Vazquez were all signed to help beef up a lineup that highly underperformed a season ago. Bounce back years from both Jorge Polanco and Max Kepler will be key, as well as the health of star Byron Buxton. With injuries in mind, the team also brought in defensive standout CF Michael A. Taylor who should see a lot of time in center even if Buxton is healthy.

On the pitching end, Sonny Gray remains at the top of the rotation with Kenta Maeda slated to return after missing all of last year. They also got themselves more much needed pitching depth by trading AL Batting champ Luis Arraez to Miami for Pablo Lopez. Tyler Mahle and Jorge Lopez were two deadline acquisitions that should play big roles in their first full season’s in Minnesota. A few young arms also showed a ton of promise this past year in starters Bailey Ober and Joe Ryan, and relievers Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, and Jovani Moran. I like not only Minnesota’s star power, but also think they have one of the deeper teams in the AL. They addressed a bunch of issues and have a few potential very high upside pieces. It’s still Cleveland’s division but the Twins are going to make a threatening run all year.

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Houston Astros

Manager: Dusty Baker
4th year in HOU, Career record: 2,093-1,790, Team record: 230-154, Playoffs: 51-46) – AGE: 73

POS	NO.	LINEUP	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
2B	#14	Mauricio Dubón	28	R/R	.214 AVG, 5 HR, 24 RBI, 2 SB – SF/HOU
LF	#23	Michael Brantley	35	L/L	.288 AVG, 5 HR, 26 RBI, .370 OBP
3B	#2	Alex Bregman	28	R/R	.259 AVG, 23 HR, 93 RBI, .820 OPS
DH	#44	Yordan Álvarez	25	L/R	.306 AVG, 37 HR, 97 RBI, 1.019 OPS
RF	#30	Kyle Tucker	26	L/R	.257 AVG, 30 HR, 107 RBI, 25 SB
1B	#79	José Abreu	36	R/R	.304 AVG, 15 HR, 75 RBI, .824 OPS – CWS
SS	#3	Jeremy Peña	25	R/R	.253 AVG, 22 HR, 63 RBI, 11 SB
CF	#20	Chas McCormick	27	R/L	.245 AVG, 14 HR, 44 RBI, .332 OBP
C	#15	Martín Maldonado	36	R/R	.186 AVG, 15 HR, 45 RBI, .248 OBP

POS	NO.	BENCH	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
C	#21	Yainer Diaz (R)	24	R/R	1/8, 0 HR, 1 RBI, .222 OBP
INF	#38	Rylan Bannon (R)	26	R/R	2/14, 0 HR, 0 RBI, .200 OBP – BAL/HOU
UTIL	#17	David Hensley (R)	26	R/R	10/29, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 1.027 OPS
OF	#6	Jake Meyers	26	R/L	.227 AVG, 1 HR, 15 RBI, 2 SB

–	NO.	ROTATION	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
SP	#59	Framber Valdez	29	LHP	17-6, 2.82 ERA, 194 Ks, 1.16 WHIP
SP	#65	José Urquidy	27	RHP	13-8, 3.94 ERA, 134 Ks, 1.17 WHIP
SP	#53	Cristian Javier	25	RHP	11-9, 2.54 ERA, 194 Ks, 0.95 WHIP
SP	#77	Luis García	26	RHP	15-8, 3.72 ERA, 157 Ks, 1.13 WHIP
SP	#58	Hunter Brown (R)	24	RHP	2-0, 0.89 ERA, 22 Ks, 1.08 WHIP

–	NO.	BULLPEN	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
CP	#55	Ryan Pressly	34	RHP	33 SVs, 2.98 ERA, 65 Ks, 0.89 WHIP
SU	#47	Rafael Montero	32	RHP	14 SVs, 2.37 ERA, 73 Ks, 1.02 WHIP
RP	#50	Héctor Neris	33	RHP	3 SVs, 3.72 ERA, 79 Ks, 1.01 WHIP
RP	#45	Ryne Stanek	31	RHP	1 SV, 1.15 ERA, 62 Ks, 1.23 WHIP
RP	#88	Phil Maton	29	RHP	65.2 IP, 3.84 ERA, 73 Ks, 1.25 WHIP
RP	#52	Bryan Abreu	25	RHP	2 SVs, 1.94 ERA, 88 Ks, 1.18 WHIP
RP	#62	Blake Taylor	27	LHP	16 IP, 3.94 ERA, 9 Ks, 1.56 WHIP
RP	#61	Seth Martinez	28	RHP	38.2 IP, 2.09 ERA, 38 Ks, 1.03 WHIP

POS	NO.	INJURED LIST	Age	B/T	Injury
2B	#27	José Altuve	32	R/R	Broken thumb Potential return in June
SP	#43	Lance McCullers Jr.	29	RHP	Muscle strain Potential return in May

DEPTH PIECES/AAA STARTERS:
Brandon Bielak – #64 (RP, Age: 26, RHP)
Matt Gage – #92 (RP, Age: 30, LHP)
Enoli Paredes – #48 (RP, Age: 27, RHP)
Parker Mushinski – #67 (RP, Age: 27, LHP)
Korey Lee – #11 (C, Age: 24, R/R)
J.J. Matijevic – #13 (1B, Age: 27, L/R)

TOP PROSPECTS WHO COULD MAKE THEIR DEBUTS IN 2023:
Pedro Leon (OF/2B, Age: 24, R/R, HOU Rank: #8)
Justin Dirden (OF, Age: 25, L/R, HOU Rank: #9)
Forrest Whitley (SP, Age: 25, RHP, HOU Rank: #21)

NOTABLE NON-ROSTER INVITES:
Austin Davis (RP, Age: 30, LHP)
Bryan Garcia (RP, Age: 28, RHP)
Dixon Machado (INF, Age: 31, R/R)

PAUL’S THOUGHTS:
MVP: 2B Jose Altuve
Breakout Player: SP Hunter Brown
Grade: A
Lineup Rank: 1st
Rotation Rank: 3rd
Bullpen Rank: 1st

The reigning World Series champs showed dominance from beginning to end of last season, winning their second crown since 2017. This Houston team has been through a lot, including a lot of self inflicted scrutiny after their sign stealing scandal came into light in 2019. Since then, Dusty Baker has done one amazing job keeping the core competitive and canceling out the noise. Altuve and Bregman had stud years once again, with Yordan Alvarez implementing himself as a top five hitter in the AL. After losing Carlos Correa, Jeremy Peña stepped in and gave the team high hopes at the SS position for the long run. Michael Brantley was also retained and the team swapped out Yuli Gurriel for 2020 AL MVP Jose Abreu, a clear rich getting richer scenario.

On the pitching end Houston decided to go young after having amazing years from their supporting pieces. Justin Verlander signed a lucrative deal with the Mets, catapulting Lance McCullers Jr. into the staff’s ace, and Valdez, Urquidy, and Garcia all as the supporting pieces. Baseball’s 43rd prospect Hunter Brown should replace Verlander in the rotation after having a few dynamic starts in his limited time in the majors in 2022. The bullpen remains the same as Rafael Montero was extended to hold down the 8th inning behind closer Ryan Pressly. Neris and Stanek both had marvelous years and will look to be the top middle inning men. The Astros remain the team to beat in the AL, and I have high expectations for them to make a deep push and a run at a second straight World Series title.

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Los Angeles Angels

Manager: Phil Nevin
2nd year, Career/Team record: 46-60 – AGE: 52

POS	NO.	LINEUP	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
RF	#3	Taylor Ward	29	R/R	.281 AVG, 23 HR, 65 RBI, .833 OPS
CF	#27	Mike Trout	31	R/R	.283 AVG, 40 HR, 80 RBI, .999 OPS
DH	#17	Shohei Ohtani	28	L/R	.273 AVG, 34 HR, 95 RBI, 11 SB
RF	#12	Hunter Renfroe	31	R/R	.255 AVG, 29 HR, 72 RBI, .807 OPS – MIL
1B	#20	Jared Walsh	29	L/L	.215 AVG, 15 HR, 44 RBI, 2 SB
3B	#6	Anthony Rendon	32	R/R	.229 AVG, 5 HR, 24 RBI, .326 OBP
SS	#10	Gio Urshela	31	R/R	.285 AVG, 13 HR, 64 RBI, .767 OPS – MIN
C	#14	Logan O’Hoppe (R)	23	R/R	4/14, 0 HR, 2 RBI, .375 OBP
2B	#2	Luis Rengifo	26	S/R	.264 AVG, 17 HR, 52 RBI, 6 SB

POS	NO.	BENCH	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
C	#33	Max Stassi	31	R/R	.180 AVG, 9 HR, 30 RBI, .267 OBP
UTIL	#23	Brandon Drury	30	R/R	.263 AVG, 28 HR, 87 RBI, .813 OPS – CIN/SD
INF	#22	David Fletcher	28	R/R	.255 AVG, 2 HR, 17 RBI, .288 OBP
OF	#16	Mickey Moniak	24	L/R	.170 AVG, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 1 SB – PHI/LAA

–	NO.	ROTATION	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
SP	#17	Shohei Ohtani	28	RHP	15-9, 2.33 ERA, 219 Ks, 1.01 WHIP
SP	#31	Tyler Anderson	33	LHP	15-5, 2.57 ERA, 138 Ks, 1.00 WHIP – LAD
SP	#43	Patrick Sandoval	26	LHP	6-9, 2.91 ERA, 151 Ks, 1.34 WHIP
SP	#38	Reid Detmers	23	LHP	7-6, 3.77 ERA, 122 Ks, 1.21 WHIP
SP	#54	José Suárez	25	LHP	8-8, 3.96 ERA, 103 Ks, 1.25 WHIP

–	NO.	BULLPEN	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
CP	#53	Carlos Estévez	30	RHP	2 SVs, 3.47 ERA, 54 Ks, 1.18 WHIP – COL
SU	#46	Jimmy Herget	29	RHP	9 SVs, 2.48 ERA, 63 Ks, 0.91 WHIP
RP	#28	Aaron Loup	35	LHP	1 SV, 3.84 ERA, 52 Ks, 1.30 WHIP
RP	#55	Matt Moore	33	LHP	5 SVs, 1.95 ERA, 83 Ks, 1.18 WHIP – TEX
RP	#52	Ryan Tepera	35	RHP	6 SVs, 3.61 ERA, 47 Ks, 1.08 WHIP
RP	#60	Andrew Wantz	27	RHP	50.1 IP, 3.22 ERA, 52 Ks, 1.15 WHIP
RP	#65	José Quijada	27	LHP	3 SVs, 3.98 ERA, 52 Ks, 1.13 WHIP
RP	#57	Zack Weiss (R)	30	RHP	13.1 IP, 3.38 ERA, 18 Ks, 1.05 WHIP
RP	#51	Jaime Barría	26	RHP	79.1 IP, 2.61 ERA, 54 Ks, 1.03 WHIP

DEPTH PIECES/AAA STARTERS:
Griffin Canning – #47 (SP, Age: 26, RHP)
Tucker Davidson – #32 (SP, Age: 26, LHP)
Chase Silseth – #63 (SP, Age: 22, RHP)
Jose Marte – #68 (RP, Age: 26, RHP)
Matt Thaiss – #21 (C, Age: 27, L/R)
Livan Soto – #13 (INF, Age: 22, L/R)
Andrew Velazquez – #4 (UTIL, Age: 28, S/R)
Jo Adell – #7 (LF, Age: 23, R/R)
Brett Phillips – #8 (OF, Age: 28, L/R)

TOP PROSPECTS WHO COULD MAKE THEIR DEBUTS IN 2023:
Ky Bush (P, Age: 23, LHP, LAA Rank: #5)

NOTABLE NON-ROSTER INVITES:
Chris Devenski (RP, Age: 32, RHP)
Jonathan Holder (RP, Age: 30, RHP)
Cesar Valdez (RP, Age: 38, LHP)
Chad Wallach (C, Age: 31, R/R)

PAUL’S THOUGHTS:
MVP: DH/SP Shohei Ohtani
Breakout Player: C Logan O’Hoppe
Grade: B
Lineup Rank: 3rd
Rotation Rank: 9th
Bullpen Rank: 9th

It was tough to chalk up another losing season a year ago for the Angels, but that’s just what they did wasting another dynamic season from both Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. This team has had the best player in baseball every year for the past ten years in both Trout and Ohtani and are yet to make a postseason run to even the ALCS. Joe Maddon was let go during the season in 2022 and Phil Nevin took over the reigns to try to get this team back on track. Once again, on paper, they seem to have had a good offseason, adding solid bats in Gio Urshela, Hunter Renfroe, and Brandon Drury. Ohtani and Trout are the best 1-2 punch in baseball and the team will pray to get something out of Anthony Rendon who has dealt with a plethora of injuries since signing his 7-year deal with the Halos. One of baseball’s top prospects Logan O’Hoppe should have a full season as the backstop and Taylor Ward, Jared Walsh, and Luis Rengifo will fit out a lineup that looks like they can make noise.

But the pitching has been the real struggle, as the team has had a difficult time finding consistent and dominant starting pitching. After an all-star season, Tyler Anderson was signed to a multi-year deal to become the staff’s veteran leader. Patrick Sandoval, Jose Suarez, and Reid Detmers all looked dominant at different points last season and they should fill out the rotation with two-way star Ohtani as the ace. The bullpen saw a few young pieces make impacts and veterans Carlos Estevez and Matt Moore were added for depth. The clock is ticking and with Ohtani set to be a free agent this upcoming winter, the time is now to prove to him they can make a winner in Anaheim. I would like to think they will be a playoff team, but a lot needs to change or they will lose Ohtani, likely trade Trout, and rebuild it all after a huge failure of a run.

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Oakland Athletics

Manager: Mark Kotsay
2nd year, Career/Team record: 60-102 – AGE: 47

POS	NO.	LINEUP	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
2B	#5	Tony Kemp	31	L/R	.235 AVG, 7 HR, 46 RBI, 11 SB
SS	#17	Aledmys Díaz	32	R/R	.243 AVG, 12 HR, 38 RBI, .691 OPS – HOU
1B	#15	Seth Brown	30	L/L	.230 AVG, 25 HR, 73 RBI, 11 SB
DH	#99	Jesús Aguilar	32	R/R	.235 AVG, 16 HR, 51 RBI, .661 OPS – MIA/BAL
C	#23	Shea Langeliers	23	R/R	.218 AVG, 6 HR, 22 RBI, .691 OPS
RF	#22	Ramon Laureano	28	R/R	.211 AVG, 13 HR, 34 RBI, 11 SB
CF	#20	Cristian Pache	24	R/R	.166 AVG, 3 HR, 18 RBI, .218 OBP
LF	#33	J.J. Bleday	25	L/L	.167 AVG, 5 HR, 16 RBI, 4 SB – MIA
3B	#13	Jordan Díaz (R)	22	R/R	13/49, 0 HR, 1 RBI, .294 OBP

POS	NO.	BENCH	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
C	#28	Manny Piña	35	R/R	2/14, 0 HR, 2 RBI, .235 OBP – ATL
UTIL	#6	Jace Peterson	32	L/R	.236 AVG, 8 HR, 34 RBI, 12 SB – MIL
INF	#2	Nick Allen	24	R/R	.207 AVG, 4 HR, 19 RBI, 3 SB
OF	#1	Esteury Ruiz (R)	24	R/R	6/35, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 1 SB – SD/MIL

–	NO.	ROTATION	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
SP	#58	Paul Blackburn	29	RHP	7-6, 4.28 ERA, 89 Ks, 1.26 WHIP
SP	#32	James Kaprielian	29	RHP	5-9, 4.23 ERA, 98 Ks, 1.34 WHIP
SP	#64	Ken Waldichuk (R)	25	LHP	2-2, 4.93 ERA, 33 Ks, 1.21 WHIP
SP	#11	Shintaro Fujinami (R)	28	RHP	DNP – Played in NPB
SP	#38	J.P. Sears	27	LHP	6-3, 3.86 ERA, 51 Ks, 1.29 WHIP – NYY/OAK

–	NO.	BULLPEN	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
CP	#56	Dany Jiménez	29	RHP	11 SVs, 3.41 ERA, 34 Ks, 1.19 WHIP
SU	#65	Trevor May	33	RHP	1 SV, 5.04 ERA, 30 Ks, 1.44 WHIP – NYM
RP	#68	Domingo Acevado	29	RHP	4 SVs, 3.33 ERA, 58 Ks, 0.99 WHIP
RP	#61	Zach Jackson	28	RHP	3 SVs, 3.00 ERA, 67 Ks, 1.27 WHIP
RP	#60	Sam Moll	31	LHP	43.1 IP, 2.91 ERA, 46 Ks, 1.27 WHIP
RP	#47	Drew Rucinski	34	RHP	DNP – Played in KBO
RP	#19	Drew Steckendrider	32	RHP	2 SVs, 5.65 ERA, 10 Ks, 1.81 WHIP – SEA
RP	#36	Adam Oller	28	RHP	2-8, 6.30 ERA, 46 Ks, 1.63 WHIP

POS	NO.	INJURED LIST	Age	R/L	Injury
RP	#54	Kirby Snead	28	LHP	Shoulder tightness Potential return in May

DEPTH PIECES/AAA STARTERS:
Kyle Muller – #39 (SP, Age: 25, LHP)
Freddy Tarnok – #62 (RP, Age: 24, RHP)
Jonah Bride – #26 (INF, Age: 27, R/R)
Kevin Smith – #4 (UTIL, Age: 26, R/R)
Conner Capel – #21 (OF, Age: 25, L/L)
Brent Rooker – #25 (OF, Age: 28, R/R)

TOP PROSPECTS WHO COULD MAKE THEIR DEBUTS IN 2023:
Tyler Soderstrom (C/1B, Age: 21, L/R, MLB Rank: #39)
Zack Gelof (2B/3B, Age: 23, R/R, OAK Rank: #3)

NOTABLE NON-ROSTER INVITES:
Austin Pruitt (RP, Age: 33, RHP)
Tyler Wade (UTIL, Age: 28, L/R)
Pablo Reyes (UTIL, Age: 29, R/R)

PAUL’S THOUGHTS:
MVP: 1B Seth Brown
Breakout Player: SP Ken Waldichuk
Grade: F
Lineup Rank: 15th
Rotation Rank: 15th
Bullpen Rank: 14th

It’s sad but the Oakland Athletics really do not have much hope for 2023, as they seem to be in the worst position of anyone in the league. They entered full rebuild last year after trading any player they had with trade value (Frankie Montas, Sean Manaea, Lou Trivino, Sean Murphy, Matt Olsen, and Matt Chapman). They were able to accumulate a few highly touted prospects in Cristian Pache, Jordan Diaz, Esteury Ruiz, Shea Langeliers, Ken Waldichuk, and more. The main eyes will be on if these young players can develop into stars or at the very least solid major leaguers. A couple of veteran bats were added in the offseason to draw some trade interest and help the young core. But it’s not looking promising.

The rotation on the other hand has a few upsides, with Waldichuk, Sears, Fujinami, and Kaprielian being a few prospects the team is excited to see in their first full seasons. The bullpen also has a few pieces that can draw trade interest at the very least, with Dany Jimenez, and veterans Trevor May and Drew Steckenrider joining the team. Oakland will probably be the worst team in baseball, and we’ll probably also begin to see a push to move the team out of a city that has lost all of their other sports franchises. A’s fans have been through a lot and it looks like they’ll be going through some more.

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Seattle Mariners

Manager: Scott Servais
8th year, Career/Team record: 528-504, Playoff record: 2-3 – AGE: 55

POS	NO.	LINEUP	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
CF	#44	Julio Rodríguez	22	R/R	.284 AVG, 28 HR, 75 RBI, 25 SB
1B	#23	Ty France	28	R/R	.276 AVG, 20 HR, 84 RBI, .777 OPS
RF	#35	Teoscar Hernández	30	R/R	.267 AVG, 25 HR, 77 RBI, .807 OPS – TOR
3B	#28	Eugenio Suárez	31	R/R	.236 AVG, 31 HR, 87 RBI, .791 OPS
2B	#16	Kolten Wong	32	L/R	.251 AVG, 15 HR, 47 RBI, 17 SB – MIL
C	#29	Cal Raleigh	26	S/R	.211 AVG, 27 HR, 63 RBI, .774 OPS
SS	#3	J.P. Crawford	28	L/R	.243 AVG, 6 HR, 42 RBI, .339 OBP
RF	#10	Jarred Kelenic	23	L/L	.141 AVG, 7 HR, 17 RBI, 5 SB
DH	#8	A.J. Pollock	35	R/R	.245 AVG, 14 HR, 56 RBI, 3 SB – CWS

POS	NO.	BENCH	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
C	#2	Tom Murphy	31	R/R	10/33, 1 HR, 1 RBI, .834 OPS
UTIL	#0	Sam Haggerty	28	S/R	.256 AVG, 5 HR, 23 RBI, 13 SB
UTIL	#25	Dylan Moore	30	R/R	.224 AVG, 6 HR, 24 RBI, 21 SB
2B/OF	#4	Tommy La Stella	34	L/R	.239 AVG, 2 HR, 14 RBI, .282 OBP – SF

–	NO.	ROTATION	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
SP	#58	Luis Castillo	30	RHP	8-6, 2.99 ERA, 167 Ks, 1.08 WHIP – CIN/SEA
SP	#38	Robbie Ray	31	LHP	12-12, 3.71 ERA, 212 Ks, 1.19 WHIP
SP	#36	Logan Gilbert	25	RHP	13-6, 3.20 ERA, 174 Ks, 1.18 WHIP
SP	#68	George Kirby	25	RHP	8-5, 3.39 ERA, 133 Ks, 1.21 WHIP
SP	#7	Marco Gonzales	31	LHP	10-15, 4.13 ERA, 103 Ks, 1.33 WHIP

–	NO.	BULLPEN	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
CP	#75	Andrés Muñoz	24	RHP	4 SVs, 2.49 ERA, 96 Ks, 0.89 WHIP
SU	#37	Paul Sewald	32	RHP	20 SVs, 2.67 ERA, 72 Ks, 0.77 WHIP
RP	#63	Diego Castillo	29	RHP	7 SVs, 3.64 ERA, 53 Ks, 1.14 WHIP
RP	#56	Penn Murfee	28	RHP	69.1 IP, 2.99 ERA, 76 Ks, 0.95 WHIP
RP	#30	Trevor Gott	30	RHP	45.2 IP, 4.14 ERA, 44 Ks, 1.03 WHIP – MIL
RP	#55	Gabe Speier	27	LHP	19.1 IP, 2.33 ERA, 14 Ks, 1.09 WHIP – KC
RP	#67	Matthew Festa	29	RHP	2 SVs, 4.17 ERA, 64 Ks, 1.13 WHIP
RP	#77	Chris Flexen	28	RHP	8-9, 3.73 ERA, 95 Ks, 1.33 WHIP

POS	NO.	INJURED LIST	Age	B/T	Injury
OF	#5	Taylor Trammell	25	L/L	Broken hand Potential return in May
RP	#65	Casey Sadler	32	RHP	Shoulder surgery Potential return in May

DEPTH PIECES/AAA STARTERS:
Matt Brash – #47 (RP, Age: 24, RHP)
Tayler Saucedo – #60 (RP, Age: 29, LHP)
Justin Topa – #48 (RP, Age: 32, RHP)
Evan White – #12 (1B, Age: 26, R/L)
Cooper Hummel – #21 (OF, Age: 28, S/R)

TOP PROSPECTS WHO COULD MAKE THEIR DEBUTS IN 2023:
Bryce Miller (P, Age: 24, RHP, MLB Rank: #98)
Emerson Hancock (P, Age: 23, RHP, SEA Rank: #4)

NOTABLE NON-ROSTER INVITES:
J.B. Bukauskas (RP, Age: 26, RHP)
Tommy Milone (RP, Age: 36, LHP)
Jacob Nottingham (C, Age: 28, R/R)
Colin Moran (1B, Age: 30, L/R)
Kole Calhoun (OF, Age:

PAUL’S THOUGHTS:
MVP: CF Julio Rodriguez
Breakout Player: OF Taylor Trammell
Grade: B+
Lineup Rank: 5th
Rotation Rank: 6th
Bullpen Rank: 8th

After snapping their two decade long playoff drought, the Mariners saw a ton of positivity in 2022 and will continue to build on that. Julio Rodriguez emerged as a superstar and one of the best young bats in the entire league. He was rewarded with a 14-year deal worth up to $400m to be Seattle’s face of the future. Outside of that, Ty France has continued to develop into an all-star 1B, and Suarez and Crawford balance out the lineup. A couple of new bats were added as well, in Teoscar Hernandez, Kolten Wong, A.J. Pollock, and Tommy La Stella, four guys who can make huge impacts right away.

On the pitching front, they have leveled out their rotation and become one of the most intriguing staffs heading into 2023. Luis Castillo was acquired at the deadline, and he joins a top of the rotation with 2021 Cy Young winner Robbie Ray. Logan Gilbert and George Kirby starred in their rookie campaigns, becoming key rotation pieces of the future. The bullpen also had a bunch of positives including young flame thrower Andres Munoz who bursted onto the scene last year and should be the team’s closer in 2023. A few other veterans were added and this Seattle team looks like one of the most put together rosters in all of baseball. They have a legitimate chance of winning the AL West, especially after the Astros lost a few pieces. I still see them as a Wild Card but probably the top one at that. Big things are coming for the Mariners.

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Texas Rangers

Manager: Bruce Bochy
1st year in TEX, Career record: 2,003-2,009, Playoff record: 44-33 – AGE: 68

POS	NO.	LINEUP	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
2B	#2	Marcus Semien	32	R/R	.248 AVG, 26 HR, 83 RBI, 25 SB
SS	#5	Corey Seager	28	L/R	.245 AVG, 33 HR, 83 RBI, .772 OPS
1B	#30	Nathaniel Lowe	27	L/R	.302 AVG, 27 HR, 76 RBI, .851 OPS
RF	#53	Adolis García	30	R/R	.250 AVG, 27 HR, 101 RBI, 25 SB
3B	#6	Josh Jung (R)	25	R/R	.204 AVG, 5 HR, 14 RBI, 2 SB
C	#28	Jonah Heim	27	S/R	.227 AVG, 16 HR, 48 RBI, .298 OBP
LF	#4	Robbie Grossman	33	S/L	.209 AVG, 7 HR, 45 RBI, 6 SB – DET/ATL
DH	#13	Brad Miller	33	L/R	.212 AVG, 7 HR, 32 RBI, 4 SB
CF	#8	Bubba Thompson	24	R/R	.265 AVG, 1 HR, 9 RBI, 18 SB

POS	NO.	BENCH	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
C	#18	Mitch Garver	32	R/R	.207 AVG, 10 HR, 24 RBI, .298 OBP
3B/2B	#20	Ezequiel Durán	23	R/R	.236 AVG, 5 HR, 25 RBI, 4 SB
UTIL	#47	Josh Smith	25	L/R	.197 AVG, 2 HR, 16 RBI, .307 OBP
OF	#16	Travis Jankowski	31	L/R	.164 AVG, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 3 SB – NYM/SEA

–	NO.	ROTATION	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
SP	#48	Jacob deGrom	34	RHP	5-4, 3.08 ERA, 102 Ks, 0.75 WHIP – NYM
SP	#54	Martín Pérez	31	LHP	12-8, 2.89 ERA, 169 Ks, 1.29 WHIP
SP	#17	Nathan Eovaldi	33	RHP	6-3, 3.87 ERA, 103 Ks, 1.21 WHIP – BOS
SP	#22	Jon Gray	31	RHP	7-7, 3.96 ERA, 134 Ks, 1.13 WHIP
SP	#33	Dane Dunning	28	RHP	4-8, 4.46 ERA, 137 Ks, 1.43 WHIP

–	NO.	BULLPEN	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
CP	#25	José Leclerc	29	RHP	7 SVs, 2.83 ERA, 54 Ks, 1.13 WHIP
SU	#57	Will Smith	33	LHP	5 SVs, 3.97 ERA, 65 Ks, 1.41 WHIP – ATL/HOU
RP	#46	Brock Burke	26	LHP	82.1 IP, 1.97 ERA, 90 Ks, 1.06 WHIP
RP	#68	Joe Barlow	27	RHP	13 SVs, 3.86 ERA, 28 Ks, 1.14 WHIP
RP	#72	Jonathan Hernández	26	RHP	4 SVs, 2.97 ERA, 27 Ks, 1.42 WHIP
RP	#32	John King	28	LHP	51.1 IP, 4.03 ERA, 30 Ks, 1.46 WHIP
RP	#23	Jake Odorizzi	32	RHP	6-6, 4.40 ERA, 86 Ks, 1.33 WHIP – HOU/ATL
RP	#44	Andrew Heaney	31	LHP	4-4, 3.10 ERA, 110 Ks, 1.09 WHIP – LAD

POS	NO.	INJURED LIST	Age	B/T	Injury
CF	#3	Leody Taveras	24	S/R	Oblique strain Potential return in May
RP	#59	Brett Martin	27	LHP	Tommy John Surgery Likely to miss entire season

DEPTH PIECES/AAA STARTERS:
Glenn Otto – #49 (SP, Age: 27, RHP)
Cole Ragans – #50 (SP, Age: 25, LHP)
Taylor Hearn – #52 (SP, Age; 28, LHP)
Spencer Howard – #36 (SP, Age: 26, RHP)
Josh Sborz – #66 (RP, Age: 29, RHP)
Sam Huff – #55 (C, Age: 25, R/R)

TOP PROSPECTS WHO COULD MAKE THEIR DEBUTS IN 2023:
Owen White (P, Age: 23, RHP, MLB Rank: #66)
Justin Foscue (2B/3B, Age: 24, R/R, TEX Rank: #7)
Dustin Harris (OF, Age: 23, L/R, TEX Rank: #8)

NOTABLE NON-ROSTER INVITES:
Danny Duffy (SP, Age: 34, LHP)
Ian Kennedy (RP, Age: 38, RHP)
Sandy Leon (C, Age: 34, S/R)
Yoshi Tsutsugo (OF, Age: 31, L/R)
Clint Frazier (OF, Age: 28, R/R)

PAUL’S THOUGHTS:
MVP: SP Jacob deGrom
Breakout Player: 3B Josh Jung
Grade: C+
Lineup Rank: 9th
Rotation Rank: 5th
Bullpen Rank: 11th

Prior to 2022, the Rangers looked to be deep in a rebuild without many positives looking towards the future. With that in mind, they attacked free agency by adding two star bats in Marcus Semien and Corey Seager to build around. Still, this wasn’t enough for them to make a real playoff push, and this offseason they decided to address the pitching. We’ll go into the pitching in a minute, but the lineup on the other hand looks relatively similar to last year. Both Seager and Semien had tough times getting going last year but found their stride in the second half. Adolis Garcia and Nathaniel Lowe have become two of the better middle of the lineup hitters in the AL and compliment those two at the top of the lineup nicely. But besides that, I’m not in love with the depth of the lineup, relying heavily on impacts from a few young players.

On the pitching front, Martin Perez starred as the ace in 2022 but not much other production came around from the other arms. With this in mind, Texas wanted to change the complexion of their rotation. They shocked all of baseball by signing Jacob deGrom to a five-year deal, a number that not too many teams wanted to go to. But it opened the flood gates as that led to the signings of Nathan Eovaldi, Jake Odorizzi, and Andrew Heaney all opting to join the Rangers. Now Texas can stash away the young arms they relied heavily on in 2022 and come out with a veteran attack. Their rotation is very solid and their depth is one of the best in baseball. I still think this team is a couple of years away though, as the pitching seems to be there but a lot will rely on the health of deGrom and Eovaldi. Also, the lineup has some work to do with a very lackluster 5-9 spots.

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MVP: Trea Turner, PHI
CY YOUNG: Zac Gallen, ARI
MANAGER OF THE YEAR: Bob Melvin, SD
COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Michael Conforto, SF
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Corbin Carroll, ARI

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Atlanta Braves

Manager: Brian Snitker
8th year, Career/Team record: 542-451, Playoff record: 23-18 – AGE: 67

POS	NO.	LINEUP	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
RF	#13	Ronald Acuña Jr.	25	R/R	.266 AVG, 15 HR, 50 RBI, 29 SB
2B	#1	Ozzie Albies	26	S/R	.247 AVG, 8 HR, 35 RBI, .294 OBP
3B	#27	Austin Riley	25	R/R	.273 AVG, 38 HR, 93 RBI, .878 OPS
1B	#28	Matt Olson	28	L/R	.240 AVG, 34 HR, 103 RBI, .802 OPS
DH	#16	Travis d’Arnaud	34	R/R	.268 AVG, 18 HR, 60 RBI, .791 OPS
C	#12	Sean Murphy	28	R/R	.250 AVG, 18 HR, 66 RBI, .332 OBP – OAK
LF	#8	Eddie Rosario	31	L/R	.212 AVG, 5 HR, 24 RBI, 3 SB
SS	#18	Vaughn Grissom	22	R/R	.291 AVG, 5 HR, 18 RBI, 5 SB
CF	#23	Michael Harris II	22	L/L	.297 AVG, 19 HR, 64 RBI, 20 SB

POS	NO.	BENCH	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
INF	#11	Orlando Arcia	28	R/R	.244 AVG., 9 HR, 30 RBI, .316 OBP
OF	#24	Jordan Luplow	29	R/R	.176 AVG, 11 HR, 28 RBI, 5 SB – ARI
OF	#17	Kevin Pillar	34	R/R	1/12, 0 HR, 0 RBI, .154 OBP – LAD
LF	#20	Marcell Ozuna	32	R/R	.226 AVG, 23 HR, 56 RBI, 2 SB

–	NO.	ROTATION	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
SP	#54	Max Fried	29	LHP	14-7, 2.48 ERA, 170 Ks, 1.01 WHIP
SP	#50	Charlie Morton	39	RHP	9-6, 4.34 ERA, 205 Ks, 1.23 WHIP
SP	#99	Spencer Strider	24	RHP	11-5, 2.67 ERA, 202 Ks, 0.99 WHIP
SP	#30	Kyle Wright	27	RHP	21-5, 3.19 ERA, 174 Ks, 1.16 WHIP
SP	#36	Ian Anderson	24	RHP	10-6, 5.00 ERA, 97 Ks, 1.51 WHIP

–	NO.	BULLPEN	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
CP	#26	Raisel Iglesias	33	RHP	17 SVs, 2.47 ERA, 78 Ks, 0.97 WHIP – LAA/ATL
SU	#77	Joe Jiménez	28	RHP	2 SVs, 3.49 ERA, 77 Ka, 1.09 WHIP – DET
RP	#33	A.J. Minter	29	LHP	5 SVs, 2.06 ERA, 94 Ks, 0.91 WHIP
RP	#22	Kirby Yates	35	RHP	7 IP, 5.14 ERA, 6 Ks, 1.57 WHIP
RP	#63	Lucas Luetge	35	LHP	2 SVs, 2.67 ERA, 60 Ks, 1.40 WHIP – NYY
RP	#61	Nick Anderson	32	RHP	DNP – Plantar fasciatis – TB
RP	#52	Dylan Lee	28	LHP	50.2 IP, 2.13 ERA, 59 Ks, 0.99 WHIP
RP	#32	Collin McHugh	35	RHP	69.1 IP, 2.60 ERA, 75 Ks, 0.94 WHIP

POS	NO.	INJURED LIST	Age	B/T	Injury
SP	#40	Mike Soroka	25	RHP	Achilles injury Potential return in May
RP	#68	Tyler Matzek	32	LHP	Tommy John Surgery Likely to miss entire season
RP	#49	Kolby Allard	25	LHP	Oblique strain Potential return in May

DEPTH PIECES/AAA STARTERS:
Jackson Stephens – #53 (RP, Age: 28, RHP)
Huascar Ynoa – #19 (SP, Age: 24, RHP)
Bryce Elder – #55 (SP, Age: 23, RHP)
Sam Hilliard – #14 (OF, Age: 29, L/L)
Eli White – #38 (OF, Age: 28, R/R)

TOP PROSPECTS WHO COULD MAKE THEIR DEBUTS IN 2023:
Jared Shuster (P, Age: 24, LHP, ATL Rank: #1)
Braden Shewmake (SS, Age: 25, L/R, ATL Rank: #6)
Darius Vines (P, Age: 24, RHP, ATL Rank: #8)

NOTABLE NON-ROSTER INVITES:
Jesse Chavez (RP, Age: 39, RHP)
Ehire Adrianza (UTIL, Age: 32, S/R)
Adeiny Hechavarria (INF, Age: 34, R/R)
Yolmer Sanchez (INF, Age: 30, S/R)
Magneuris Sierra (OF, Age: 27, L/L)

PAUL’S THOUGHTS:
MVP: 3B Austin Riley
Breakout Player: INF Vaughn Grissom
Grade: B+
Lineup Rank: 4th
Rotation Rank: 7th
Bullpen Rank: 2nd

After winning it all in 2021, the Braves followed up with yet another dominant season, winning 101 games but losing in the NLDS. A lot of Braves fans were hot on my case about the Mets choking so I’ll take the moment to remind everyone the Braves finished with one more total win. Anyway, Atlanta has done an amazing job locking up their young core. They locked in: Austin Riley – 10 years, $212m (age 37), Michael Harris II – 8 years, $72m (age 32), Spencer Strider – 6 years, $75m (age 31), Sean Murphy – 6 years, $73m (age 35), and Matt Olson – 8 years, $168m (age 37), while also having remaining contracts of: Ronald Acuna – 6 years, $102m (age 31) and Ozzie Albies – 5 years, $35m (age 31) left on payroll. How they get away with these steals I will never know, but it’s quite remarkable. On the other side, it’s worth noting that they lost a lot of depth, including Dansby Swanson who was seen as the captain last season. Vaughn Grissom should take over SS duties full-time after a solid rookie year.

On the pitching end, Strider and Wright look like two key young pieces that will be staples of the rotation. Perennial all-star and gold glove winner Max Fried has been yet to receive one of these Atlanta extensions, and the likelihood of losing him after 2024 seems quite high. Regardless the rotation, bullpen, and lineup all look dominant and relatively similar to its star power that won them a World Series a couple years ago. The only problem is the Mets and Phillies. The Mets won 101 games last year and no doubt improved again this offseason, while the Phillies snuck into the playoffs and somehow won and NL pennant. This division has, by far, the most upfront star power and an NL East title in 2022 is going to be a tooth and nail grind. I’m not too sure the Braves keep their division streak going, but they’ll be a playoff team making a strong push yet again.

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Miami Marlins

Manager: Skip Schumaker
1st year – AGE: 43

POS	NO.	LINEUP	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
CF	#2	Jazz Chisholm Jr.	25	L/R	.254 AVG, 14 HR, 45 RBI, 12 SB
3B	#18	Joey Wendle	32	L/R	.259 AVG, 3 HR, 32 RBI, 12 SB
2B	#3	Luis Arráez	25	L/R	.316 AVG*, 8 HR, 49 RBI, .375 OBP – MIN
1B	#26	Garrett Cooper	32	R/R	.261 AVG, 9 HR, 50 RBI, .752 OPS
DH	#97	Yuli Gurriel	38	R/R	.242 AVG, 8 HR, 53 RBI, 8 SB – HOU
LF	#7	Jesús Sánchez	25	L/R	.214 AVG, 13 HR, 36 RBI, .280 OBP
SS	#9	Jean Segura	32	R/R	.277 AVG, 10 HR, 33 RBI, 13 SB – PHI
RF	#14	Bryan De La Cruz	26	R/R	.252 AVG, 13 HR, 43 RBI, 4 SB
C	#58	Jacob Stallings	33	R/R	.223 AVG, 4 HR, 34 RBI, .292 OBP

POS	NO.	BENCH	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
C	#4	Nick Fortes	26	R/R	.230 AVG, 9 HR, 24 RBI, 5 SB
UTIL	#5	Jon Berti	33	R/R	.240 AVG, 4 HR, 28 RBI, 41 SB**
OF	#12	Jorge Soler	31	R/R	.207 AVG, 13 HR, 34 RBI, .695 OPS
RF	#24	Avisaíl García	31	R/R	.224 AVG, 8 HR, 35 RBI, 4 SB

–	NO.	ROTATION	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
SP	#22	Sandy Alcántara	27	RHP	14-9, 2.28 ERA, 207 Ks, 0.98 WHIP
SP	#47	Johnny Cueto	37	RHP	8-10, 3.35 ERA, 102 Ks, 1.23 WHIP – CWS
SP	#44	Jesús Luzardo	25	LHP	4-7, 3.32 ERA, 120 Ks, 1.04 WHIP
SP	#28	Trevor Rogers	25	LHP	4-11, 5.47 ERA, 106 Ks, 1.50 WHIP
SP	#29	Braxton Garrett	25	LHP	3-7, 3.58 ERA, 90 Ks, 1.25 WHIP

–	NO.	BULLPEN	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
CP	#66	Tanner Scott	28	LHP	20 SVs, 4.31 ERA, 90 Ks, 1.61 WHIP
SU	#35	A.J. Puk	27	LHP	4 SVs, 3.12 ERA, 76 Ks, 1.15 WHIP – OAK
RP	#36	Dylan Floro	32	RHP	10 SVs, 3.02 ERA, 48 Ks, 1.17 WHIP
RP	#32	Matt Barnes	32	RHP	8 SVs, 4.31 ERA, 34 Ks, 1.44 WHIP – BOS
RP	#51	Tommy Nance	31	RHP	43.2 IP, 4.33 ERA, 57 Ks, 1.51 WHIP
RP	#48	Steven Okert	31	LHP	51.1 IP, 2.98 ERA, 63 Ks, 1.17 WHIP
RP	#84	J.T. Chargois	32	RHP	22.1 IP, 2.42 ERA, 17 Ks, 0.94 WHIP – TB
RP	#27	Edward Cabrera	24	RHP	6-4, 3.01 ERA, 75 Ks, 1.07 WHIP

POS	NO.	INJURED LIST	Age	B/T	Injury
SP	#23	Max Meyer	24	RHP	Tommy John Surgery Likely to miss entire season
RP	#37	Anthony Bender	28	RHP	Tommy John Surgery Likely to miss entire season

DEPTH PIECES/AAA STARTERS:
Sixto Sanchez – #47 (SP, Age: 24, RHP)
Huascar Brazoban – #31 (RP, Age: 33, RHP)
Garrett Hampson – #1 (UTIL, Age: 28, R/R)
Jordan Groshans – #10 (3B, Age: 23, R/R)
Peyton Burdick – #6 (OF, Age: 26, R/R)
Jerar Encarnacion – #64 (OF, Age: 25, R/R)

TOP PROSPECTS WHO COULD MAKE THEIR DEBUTS IN 2023:
Eury Perez (P, Age; 19, RHP, MLB Rank: #13)
Jacob Amaya (SS, Age: 24, R/R, MIA Rank: #9)
Xavier Edwards (INF, Age: 23, S/R, MIA Rank: #12)

NOTABLE NON-ROSTER INVITES:
Chi Chi Gonzalez (SP, Age: 31, RHP)
Geoff Hartlieb (RP, Age: 29, RHP)
Devin Smeltzer (RP, Age: 27, LHP)
Jose Iglesias (SS, Age: 33, R/R)

*Arraez won the AL batting title
**Berti led the NL in SB

PAUL’S THOUGHTS:
MVP: SP Sandy Alcantara
Breakout Player: OF Jesus Sanchez
Grade: C+
Lineup Rank: 12th
Rotation Rank: 3rd
Bullpen Rank: 12th

Probably the most drastic disparity between pitching and offense was shown all throughout the 2022 season with the Marlins. The offensive side was a complete disaster, with not a single player reaching 16 HRs on the season and very few even surpassing 50 RBI’s. Sure injuries did play a part but the acquisitions, and lack thereof, played the biggest. Avisail Garcia and Jorge Soler were two veteran bats brought in to help the young core, and the two of them saw the worst offensive years of their careers. Joey Wendle was the typical slap hitter he always is and Chisholm, Sanchez, and De La Cruz showed some positives for the future. This year, the team has brought in even more reparations including AL batting champ Luis Arraez, Jean Segura, and Yuli Gurriel and Jose Iglesias who were both signed to minor league deals. This should be able to help the team but the question is, how much?

On the pitching end, their staff was nothing short of magnificent all year long. Sandy Alcantara led the way posting a 2.28 ERA and winning the NL Cy Young. Jesus Luzardo, Braxton Garrett, and Edward Cabrera all had solid seasons as additional pieces. They traded Pablo Lopez to Minnesota for Arraez and will replace him with Johnny Cueto who re-surged his career in the South Side of Chicago last year. A few relievers were added to a bullpen that was solid including A.J. Puk, Matt Barnes, and J.P. Chargois. Tanner Scott and Dylan Floro should be in the mix as the primary closers with Puk and Barnes getting opportunities as well. The Marlins on their way and for first year skipper Skip Shumaker, the key is going to be to have a positive year with the bats. We know the pitching can dominate, but will any of these young hitters emerge into reliable bats?

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New York Mets

Manager: Buck Showalter
2nd year in NYM, Career record: 1,652-1,578, Team record: 101-61, Playoff record: 10-16 – AGE: 66

POS	NO.	LINEUP	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
CF	#9	Brandon Nimmo	29	L/R	.274 AVG, 16 HR, 64 RBI, .800 OPS
RF	#6	Starling Marte	34	R/R	.292 AVG, 16 HR, 63 RBI, 18 SB
SS	#12	Francisco Lindor	29	S/R	.270 AVG, 26 HR, 107 RBI, 16 SB
1B	#20	Pete Alonso	28	R/R	.271 AVG, 40 HR, 131 RBI, .869 OPS
DH	#32	Daniel Vogelbach	30	L/R	.238 AVG, 18 HR, 59 RBI, .793 OPS – PIT/NYM
2B	#1	Jeff McNeil	30	L/R	.326 AVG*, 9 HR, 62 RBI, .836 OPS
3B	#10	Eduardo Escobar	34	S/R	.240 AVG, 20 HR, 69 RBI, .726 OPS
LF	#19	Mark Canha	34	R/R	.266 AVG, 13 HR, 61 RBI, .367 OBP
C	#2	Omar Narváez	31	L/R	.206 AVG, 4 HR, 23 RBI, .292 OBP – MIL

POS	NO.	BENCH	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
C	#3	Tomas Nido	28	R/R	.239 AVG, 3 HR, 28 RBI, .276 OBP
INF	#13	Luis Guillorme	28	L/R	.273 AVG, 2 HR, 17 RBI, .351 OBP
LF/1B	#33	Darin Ruf	36	R/R	.204 AVG, 11 HR, 45 RBI, .645 OPS – SF/NYM
OF	#28	Tommy Pham	35	R/R	.236 AVG, 17 HR, 63 RBI, 8 SB – CIN/BOS

–	NO.	ROTATION	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
SP	#35	Justin Verlander	40	RHP	18-4, 1.75 ERA, 185 Ks, 0.83 WHIP** – HOU
SP	#21	Max Scherzer	38	RHP	11-5, 2.29 ERA, 173 Ks, 0.91 WHIP
SP	#34	Kodai Senga (R)	30	RHP	DNP – Played in NPB
SP	#59	Carlos Carrasco	35	RHP	15-7, 3.97 ERA, 152 Ks, 1.33 WHIP
SP	#23	David Peterson	27	LHP	7-5, 3.83 ERA, 126 Ks, 1.33 WHIP

–	NO.	BULLPEN	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
CP	#30	David Robertson	37	RHP	20 SVs, 2.40 ERA, 81 Ks, 1.16 WHIP – CHC/PHI
SU	#0	Adam Ottavino	37	RHP	3 SVs, 2.06 ERA, 79 Ks, 0.97 WHIP
RP	#25	Brooks Raley	34	LHP	6 SVs, 2.68 ERA, 61 Ks, 0.97 WHIP – TB
RP	#29	Tommy Hunter	36	RHP	22.1 IP, 2.42 ERA, 22 Ks, 1.21 WHIP
RP	#40	Drew Smith	29	RHP	46 IP, 3.33 ERA, 53 Ks, 1.15 WHIP
RP	#65	Dennis Santana	26	RHP	1 SV, 5.22 ERA, 54 Ks, 1.33 WHIP – TEX
RP	#46	John Curtiss	29	RHP	DNP – Tommy John Surgery
RP	#85	Stephen Nogosek	28	RHP	22 IP, 2.45 ERA, 21 Ks, 1.23 WHIP

POS	NO.	INJURED LIST	Age	B/T	Injury
SP	#62	José Quintana	34	LHP	Rib tumor Potential return in July
CP	#39	Edwin Díaz	28	RHP	Torn patellar tendon Likely to miss entire season

DEPTH PIECES/AAA STARTERS:
Tylor Megill – #38 (SP, Age: 27, RHP)
Joey Lucchesi – #47 (SP, Age: 29, LHP)
Elieser Hernandez – #57 (SP, Age: 27, RHP
Jeff Brigham – #43 (RP, Age: 31, RHP)
Sam Coonrod – #45 (RP, Age: 30, RHP)
Bryce Montes de Oca – #63 (RP, Age: 26, RHP)
Francisco Álvarez – #50 (C, Age: 21, R/R)
Danny Mendick – #15 (UTIL, Age: 29, R/R)
Brett Baty – #22 (3B, Age: 23, L/R)
Mark Vientos – #27 (INF, Age: 23, R/R)

TOP PROSPECTS WHO COULD MAKE THEIR DEBUTS IN 2023:
Ronny Mauricio (INF, Age: 21, S/R, NYM Rank: 21)

NOTABLE NON-ROSTER INVITES:
T.J McFarland (RP, Age: 34, LHP)
Jimmy Yacabonis (RP, Age: 31, RHP)
Jonathan Araúz (INF, Age: 24, S/R)
José Peraza (INF, Age: 29, R/R)
Tim Locastro (OF, Age: 30, R/R)
Abraham Almonte (OF, Age: 33, S/R)

*McNeil won the NL batting title
**Verlander led the AL in WHIP

PAUL’S THOUGHTS:
MVP: SP Justin Verlander
Breakout Player: 3B Brett Baty
Grade: A-
Lineup Rank: 3rd
Rotation Rank: 2nd
Bullpen Rank: 5th

There was many great things to take away from the Mets 2022 season, that includes 101 wins which is second most in team history, first playoff appearance since 2016, and extreme productivity on offense, more than they’ve seen in a long time. Of course losing in the Wild Card series is a stinger, but this crew got right back to work and have even more reason to believe they can make a deeper run in 2023. After the shocking loss of Jacob deGrom, Steve Cohen and company went to work. They locked up Nimmo, extended McNeil, and brought in Narvaez and Pham as depth bats. Their lineup now shines with Nimmo and Marte at the top and Lindor and Alonso who have become one of the deadliest 3-4 spots in any lineup. Top prospects Francisco Alvarez, Brett Baty, and Ronny Mauricio are all on the door knocking and the team may have more reinforcements on offense than they can manage.

In a shocking twist it’s the pitching rotation that upgraded, they lost three rotation pieces in Walker, Bassitt, and deGrom, but added more established pieces with AL Cy Young winner and future HOF Justin Verlander at the top with his old Detroit buddy Max Scherzer. Japanese phenom Kodai Senga was brought in on a 5-year deal and Jose Quintana (although injured) was given 3 years. The sudden and shocking injury to Edwin Diaz is one that will bend but, in my opinion, not break the bullpen. David Robertson was brought in for just this reason and Adam Ottavino was also re-signed. Let’s hope that the early injury issues are not an indication of the team in general this year. They’ll be right back in the NL pennant race, but winning the division will be tough with the star power in Atlanta and Philly.

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Philadelphia Phillies

Manager: Rob Thomson
2nd year, Career/Team record: 65-46, Playoff record: 11-6 – AGE: 59

POS	NO.	LINEUP	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
LF	#12	Kyle Schwarber	30	L/R	.218 AVG, 46 HR*, 94 RBI, .323 OBP
SS	#7	Trea Turner	29	R/R	.298 AVG, 21 HR, 100 RBI, 27 SB – LAD
DH	#8	Nick Castellanos	31	R/R	.263 AVG, 13 HR, 62 RBI, 7 SB
C	#10	J.T. Realmuto	31	R/R	.276 AVG, 22 HR, 84 RBI, 21 SB
3B	#28	Alec Bohm	26	R/R	.280 AVG, 13 HR, 72 RBI, .713 OPS
1B	#24	Darick Hall	27	L/R	.250 AVG, 9 HR, 16 RBI, .804 OPS
2B	#5	Bryson Stott	25	L/R	.234 AVG, 10 HR, 49 RBI, 12 SB
RF	#18	Dalton Guthrie (R)	27	R/R	7/21, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 1 SB
CF	#16	Brandon Marsh	25	L/R	.245 AVG, 11 HR, 52 RBI, 10 SB – LAA/PHI

POS	NO.	BENCH	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
C	#21	Garrett Stubbs	29	L/R	.264 AVG, 5 HR, 16 RBI, .350 OBP
INF	#2	Josh Harrison	35	R/R	.256 AVG, 7 HR, 27 RBI, .317 OBP – CWS
UTIL	#33	Edmundo Sosa	27	R/R	.227 AVG, 2 HR, 21 RBI, 6 SB – STL/PHI
OF	#44	Jake Cave	30	L/L	.213 AVG, 5 HR, 20 RBI, .260 OBP – MIN

–	NO.	ROTATION	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
SP	#45	Zack Wheeler	32	RHP	12-7, 2.82 ERA, 163 Ks, 1.04 WHIP
SP	#27	Aaron Nola	29	RHP	11-13, 3.25 ERA, 235 Ks, 0.96 WHIP
SP	#99	Taijuan Walker	30	RHP	12-5, 3.49 ERA, 132 Ks, 1.19 WHIP – NYM
SP	#55	Ranger Suárez	27	LHP	10-7, 3.65 ERA, 129 Ks, 1.33 WHIP
SP	#70	Bailey Falter	25	LHP	6-4, 3.86 ERA, 74 Ks, 1.21 WHIP

–	NO.	BULLPEN	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
CP	#30	Gregory Soto	28	LHP	30 SVs, 3.28 ERA, 60 Ks, 1.38 WHIP – DET
SU	#31	Craig Kimbrel	34	RHP	22 SVs, 3.75 ERA, 72 Ks, 1.32 WHIP – LAD
RP	#46	José Alvarado	27	LHP	2 SVs, 3.18 ERA, 81 Ks, 1.22 WHIP
RP	#58	Seranthony Domínguez	28	RHP	9 SVs, 3.00 ERA, 61 Ks, 1.14 WHIP
RP	#64	Andrew Bellatti	31	RHP	2 SVs, 3.31 ERA, 78 Ks, 1.33 WHIP
RP	#75	Connor Brogdon	28	RHP	2 SVs, 3.27 ERA, 50 Ks, 1.25 WHIP
RP	#47	Erich Uelman (R)	26	RHP	1 SV, 4.67 ERA, 21 Ks, 1.37 WHIP – CHC
RP	#25	Matt Strahm	31	LHP	4 SVs, 3.83 ERA, 52 Ks, 1.23 WHIP – BOS

POS	NO.	INJURED LIST	Age	B/T	Injury
1B	#17	Rhys Hoskins	29	R/R	Torn ACL Likely to miss entire season
RF	#3	Bryce Harper	30	L/R	UCL injury Potential return in May
RP	#57	Nick Nelson	27	RHP	Hamstring injury Potential return in May
RP	#61	Cristopher Sánchez	26	LHP	Tricep injury Potential return in May

DEPTH PIECES/AAA STARTERS:
Yunior Marte – #43 (RP, Age: 28, RHP)
Luis Ortiz – #56 (RP, Age: 27, RHP)
Michael Plassmeyer – #49 (RP, Age: 26, LHP)
Andrew Vasquez – #37 (RP, Age: 29, LHP)
Rafael Marchan – #13 (C, Age: 24, S/R)
Kody Clemens – #23 (INF, Age: 26, L/R)

TOP PROSPECTS WHO COULD MAKE THEIR DEBUTS IN 2023:
Andrew Painter (P, Age: 19, RHP, MLB Rank: #6)
Griff McGarry (P, Age: 23, RHP, PHI Rank: #3)
Johan Rojas (OF, Age: 22, R/R, PHI Rank: #6)

NOTABLE NON-ROSTER INVITES:
Jake Jewell (RP, Age: 30, RHP)
Aramis Garcia (C, Age: 30, R/R)
Scott Kingery (UTIL, Age: 29, R/R)
Vimael Machin (UTIL, Age: 29, L/R)

*Schwarber led the NL in HR’s

PAUL’S THOUGHTS:
MVP: SS Trea Turner
Breakout Player: SP Bailey Falter
Grade: A-
Lineup Rank: 6th
Rotation Rank: 6th
Bullpen Rank: 1st

The reigning NL champs are coming off of a 2022 season that saw a roller coaster in events. After starting off awful. Joe Girardi was let go which caused a spark in the locker room. Long-time assistant Rob Thomson was promoted to his first managerial role and things couldn’t have gone any better. Star Bryce Harper was on the shelf for a while after injuring his elbow and later breaking his hand, but was able to benefit from the DH spot for the rest of the season. Things seem like they will be going in that direction again as Bryce is still not cleared to play the outfield. Kyle Schwarber led the NL in homeruns after a serge in the second half while Realmuto and Hoskins evened out the lineup. Now, the order gets even better after signing star Trea Turner to take over SS for the next 10 years. Now they look to not only sneak in as a Wild Card but also overtake a tough and loaded division.

On the pitching side, Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola shined again at the top of the rotation. Taijuan Walker was added on a 4-year deal to be the 3rd option while Ranger Suarez had yet another solid season. The fifth spot will be wide open for a young arm like Bailey Falter or Andrew Painter to take over. The bullpen was inconsistent over the past few years so they went to work this offseason, bringing in Craig Kimbrel as well as trading for Gregory Soto. The Phillies gave up a lot for a shutdown guy like Soto, so it seems he’ll be the main 9th inning man over Kimbrel. Alvarado, Strahm, and Dominguez will be the middle relievers with a few young arms filling out the rest. After their trip to the World Series, it seems like the Phillies only got better. As tough as it is for me to say, they are my favorites to win the NL East in 2023.

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Manager: Dave Martinez
6th year, Career/Team record: 321-387, Playoff record: 12-5 – AGE: 58

POS	NO.	LINEUP	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
LF	#28	Lane Thomas	27	R/R	.241 AVG, 17 HR, 52 RBI, 8 SB
SS	#5	C.J. Abrams	22	L/R	.246 AVG, 2 HR, 21 RBI, 7 SB – SD/WSH
DH	#45	Joey Meneses	30	R/R	.324 AVG, 13 HR, 34 RBI, .930 OPS
RF	#23	Corey Dickerson	33	L/R	.267 AVG, 6 HR, 36 RBI, .300 OBP – STL
C	#20	Keibert Ruiz	24	S/R	.251 AVG, 7 HR, 36 RBI, 6 SB
1B	#22	Dominic Smith	27	L/L	.194 AVG, 0 HR, 17 RBI, .276 OBP – NYM
3B	#9	Jeimer Candelario	29	S/R	.217 AVG, 13 HR, 50 RBI, .272 OBP – DET
2B	#2	Luis García	22	L/R	.275 AVG, 7 HR, 45 RBI, 3 SB
CF	#16	Victor Robles	25	R/R	.224 AVG, 6 HR, 33 RBI, 15 SB

POS	NO.	BENCH	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
C	#15	Riley Adams	26	R/R	.176 AVG, 5 HR, 10 RBI, .245 OBP
UTIL	#14	Ildemaro Vargas	31	S/R	.263 AVG, 4 HR, 23 RBI, 3 SB – CHC/WSH
INF	#3	Jeter Downs (R)	24	R/R	6/39, 1 HR, 4 RBI, .171 OBP – BOS
OF	#36	Stone Garrett (R)	27	R/R	.276 AVG, 4 HR, 10 RBI, 3 SB – ARI

–	NO.	ROTATION	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
SP	#46	Patrick Corbin	33	LHP	6-19, 6.31 ERA, 128 Ks, 1.70 WHIP
SP	#1	MacKenzie Gore	24	LHP	4-4, 4.50 ERA, 72 Ks, 1.47 WHIP – SD
SP	#40	Josiah Gray	25	RHP	7-10, 5.02 ERA, 154 Ks, 1.36 WHIP
SP	#32	Trevor Williams	30	RHP	3-5, 3.21 ERA, 84 Ks, 1.23 WHIP – NYM
SP	#52	Chad Kuhl	30	RHP	6-11, 5.72 ERA, 110 Ks, 1.55 WHIP – COL

–	NO.	BULLPEN	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
CP	#67	Kyle Finnegan	31	RHP	11 SVs, 3.51 ERA, 70 Ks, 1.14 WHIP
SU	#58	Carl Edwards Jr.	31	RHP	2 SVs, 2.76 ERA, 56 Ks, 1.23 WHIP
RP	#71	Mason Thompson	25	RHP	1 SV, 2.92 ERA, 15 Ks, 1.14 WHIP
RP	#64	Víctor Arano	28	RHP	1 SV, 4.50 ERA, 44 Ks, 1.40 WHIP
RP	#61	Erasmo Ramírez	32	RHP	86.1 IP, 2.92 ERA, 61 Ks, 1.08 WHIP
RP	#47	Jose A. Ferrer (R)	23	LHP	WSH Rank: #26
RP	#73	Hunter Harvey	28	RHP	39.1 IP, 2.52 ERA, 45 Ks, 1.14 WHIP
RP	#30	Paolo Espino	36	RHP	0-9, 4.84 ERA, 92 Ks, 1.37 WHIP

POS	NO.	INJURED LIST	Age	B/T	Injury
3B	#8	Carter Kieboom	25	R/R	Shoulder injury Potential return in May
SP	#37	Stephen Strasburg	34	RHP	Shoulder injury No timetable to return
SP	#54	Cade Cavalli (R)	24	RHP	Tommy John Surgery Likely to miss entire season
RP	#63	Sean Doolittle	36	LHP	Elbow injury Potential return in June
RP	#21	Tanner Rainey	30	RHP	Tommy John Surgery Likely to miss entire season

DEPTH PIECES/AAA STARTERS:
Joan Adon – #60 (SP, Age: 24, RHP)
Cory Abbott – #77 (RP, Age: 27, RHP)
Jordan Weems – #51 (RP, Age: 30, RHP)
Israel Pineda – #43 (C, Age: 23, R/R)
Alex Call – #17 (OF, Age: 28, R/R)

TOP PROSPECTS WHO COULD MAKE THEIR DEBUTS IN 2023:
Jeremy De La Rosa (OF, Age: 21, L/L, WSH Rank: #8)
Thad Ward (P, Age: 26, RHP, WSH Rank: #12)

NOTABLE NON-ROSTER INVITES:
Anthony Banda (RP, Age: 30, LHP)
Alex Colomé (RP, Age: 34, RHP)
Wily Peralta (RP, Age: 33, RHP)
Matt Adams (1B, Age: 34, L/R)
Michael Chavis (2B/1B, Age: 27, R/R)
Travis Blankenhorn (OF, Age: 26, L/R)
Yadiel Hernández (OF, Age: 35, L/R)

PAUL’S THOUGHTS:
MVP: C Keibert Ruiz
Breakout Player: SS C.J. Abrams
Grade: D
Lineup Rank: 14th
Rotation Rank: 15th
Bullpen Rank: 15th

The Nationals enter the new season as the odd man out in the NL East who will most likely get beaten up on by their division rivals. Since their historic run to the World Series in 2019, Washington has entered rebuild mode which saw the likes of Juan Soto, Trea Turner, and others leave. Now Davey Martinez is left to scrap up loose ends while trying to field a major league roster. C.J. Abrams was acquired in the Juan Soto trade and will be looked on as the most promising young piece. Kiebert Ruiz has begun to develop into a major leaguer and a few veterans were added in Corey Dickerson, Dom Smith, and Jeimer Candelario. Sure it’s not an impressive lineup by any means but the biggest key will be to see continued development while they await their low minor league level top prospects.

The pitching rotation still holds two key pieces from that 2019 team, Patrick Corbin and Stephen Strasburg. The two are on untradeable contracts, while Corbin put up 19 losses and a 6+ ERA while Strasburg has rarely been seen on the field since the World Series. MacKenzie Gore and Josiah Gray were the top pieces they got in deadline exchanges and sadly we will have to wait for top prospect Cade Cavalli after he underwent Tommy John Surgery. The rest of the rotation and bullpen will be pieced together by a variety of veterans including Chad Kuhl who had a miserable 2022, Trevor Williams who may have had the best year of his career in 2022, and several more. No one has any real expectations for this squad, and it’s very tough to even predict when the pieces will start to come together.

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Chicago Cubs

Manager: David Ross
4th year, Career/Team record: 179-205, Playoff record: 0-2 – AGE: 46

POS	NO.	LINEUP	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
SS	#7	Dansby Swanson	29	R/R	.277 AVG, 25 HR, 96 RBI, 18 SB – ATL
LF	#8	Ian Happ	28	S/R	.271 AVG, 17 HR, 72 RBI, 9 SB
DH	#36	Trey Mancini	31	R/R	.239 AVG, 18 HR, 63 RBI, .710 OPS – BAL/HOU
CF	#24	Cody Beliinger	27	L/L	.210 AVG, 19 HR, 68 RBI, 14 SB – LAD
RF	#27	Seiya Suzuki	28	R/R	.262 AVG, 14 HR, 46 RBI, 9 SB
2B	#2	Nico Hoerner	25	R/R	.281 AVG, 10 HR, 55 RBI, 20 SB
3B	#16	Patrick Wisdom	31	R/R	.207 AVG, 25 HR, 66 RBI, 8 SB
1B	#51	Eric Hosmer	33	L/L	.268 AVG, 8 HR, 44 RBI, .716 OPS – SD/BOS
C	#18	Tucker Barnhart	32	S/R	.221 AVG, 1 HR, 16 RBI, .287 OBP – DET

POS	NO.	BENCH	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
C	#15	Yan Gomes	35	R/R	.235 AVG, 8 HR, 31 RBI, .260 OBP
UTIL	#5	Christopher Morel	23	R/R	.235 AVG, 16 HR, 47 RBI, 10 SB
INF	#1	Nick Madrigal	26	R/R	.249 AVG, 0 HR, 7 RBI, .305 OBP
UTIL	#6	Zach McKinstry	27	L/R	.199 AVG, 5 HR, 14 RBI, 7 SB – LAD/CHC

–	NO.	ROTATION	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
SP	#28	Kyle Hendricks	33	RHP	4-6, 4.80 ERA, 66 Ks, 1.29 WHIP
SP	#0	Marcus Stroman	31	RHP	6-7, 3.50 ERA, 119 Ks, 1.15 WHIP
SP	#50	Jameson Taillon	31	RHP	14-5, 3.91 ERA, 151 Ks, 1.31 WHIP – NYY
SP	#11	Drew Smyly	33	LHP	7-8, 3.47 ERA, 91 Ks, 1.19 WHIP
SP	#35	Justin Steele	27	LHP	4-7, 3.18 ERA, 126 Ks, 1.35 WHIP

–	NO.	BULLPEN	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
CP	#32	Michael Fulmer	30	RHP	3 SVs, 3.39 ERA, 61 Ks, 1.37 WHIP – DET/MIN
SU	#25	Brad Boxberger	34	RHP	1 SV, 2.95 ERA, 68 Ks, 1.23 WHIP – MIL
RP	#99	Rowan Wick	30	RHP	9 SVs, 4.22 ERA, 69 Ks, 1.69 WHIP
RP	#59	Michael Rucker	28	RHP	54.2 IP, 3.95 ERA, 50 Ks, 1.28 WHIP
RP	#47	Brandon Hughes	27	LHP	8 SVs, 3.12 ERA, 68 Ks, 1.09 WHIP
RP	#66	Julian Merryweather	31	RHP	26.2 IP, 6.75 ERA, 23 Ks, 1.43 WHIP – TOR
RP	#73	Adbert Alzolay	28	RHP	13.1 IP, 3.38 ERA, 19 Ks, 0.83 WHIP
RP	#71	Keegan Thompson	28	RHP	10-5, 3.76 ERA, 108 Ks, 1.27 WHIP

POS	NO.	INJURED LIST	Age	B/T	Injury
RP	#12	Codi Heuer	26	RHP	Tommy John Surgery Potential return in July

DEPTH PIECES/AAA STARTERS:
Javier Assad – #72 (SP, Age: 25, RHP)
Hayden Wesneski – #19 (SP, Age: 25, RHP)
Adrian Sampson – #41 (SP, Age: 31, RHP)
Edwin Rios – #30 (1B/3B, Age: 28, L/R)
Nelson Velazquez – #4 (OF, Age: 24, R/R)

TOP PROSPECTS WHO COULD MAKE THEIR DEBUTS IN 2023:
Brennen Davis (OF, Age: 23, R/R, MLB Rank: #92)
Jordan Wicks (P, Age: 23, LHP, CHC Rank: #6)
Matt Mervis (1B, Age: 24, L/R, CHC Rank: #7)
Alexander Canario (OF, Age: 22, R/R, CHC Rank: #11)

NOTABLE NON-ROSTER INVITES:
Ryan Borucki (RP, Age: 29, LHP)
Mark Leiter Jr. (SP, Age: 32, RHP)
Sergio Alcantara (UTIL, Age: 26, S/R)
David Bote (INF, Age: 30, R/R)
Mike Tauchman (OF, Age: 32, L/L)

PAUL’S THOUGHTS:
MVP: SS Dansby Swanson
Breakout Player: INF Nico Hoerner
Grade: C+
Lineup Rank: 7th
Rotation Rank: 11th
Bullpen Rank: 9th

The Cubs are interesting and I’ll just start off with that. One part of me wants to say they’re still rebuilding and not really a contender, but then I look at the roster and it isn’t half bad. The team clearly went towards a rebuild in 2020 after letting all of their stars loose at the deadline. But clearly they see the NL Central being wide open and attacked this free agency with means to compete. Trey Mancini, Eric Hosmer, Cody Bellinger, and Dansby Swanson were all signed to beef up a lineup that struggled mightily in 2022. These additions should not be glanced over, as the veteran bats mixed with a few solid pieces in Suzuki, Hoerner, Morel, and Happ could spark a very solid lineup. A few of their top prospects should also see the majors this season, including top 100 OF Brennan Davis.

Pitching wise, Marcus Stroman and Kyle Hendricks return as the anchors with newly signed Jameson Taillon joining the middle of the rotation. A few youngsters should compete for spots as the 4th and 5th starters including Hayden Wesneski, Adrian Sampson, and Justin Steele. The bullpen also improved on the free agent market, with Michael Fulmer being brough in as the presumptive closer and Brad Boxberger as his setup man. I still like the Cardinals in the Central but man it will be tough to count this team out. If healthy, they should have enough depth to be better than Milwaukee and compete for a Wild Card.

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Cincinnati Reds

Manager: David Bell
5th year, Career/Team record: 251-295, Playoff record: 0-2 – AGE: 50

POS	NO.	LINEUP	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
2B	#6	Jonathan India	26	R/R	.249 AVG, 10 HR, 41 RBI, .327 OBP
DH	#4	Wil Myers	32	R/R	.261 AVG, 7 HR, 41 RBI, .713 OPS – SD
C	#37	Tyler Stephenson	26	R/R	.319 AVG, 6 HR, 35 RBI, .854 OPS
1B	#19	Joey Votto	39	L/R	.205 AVG, 11 HR, 41 RBI, .319 OBP
LF	#27	Jake Fraley	27	L/L	.259 AVG, 12 HR, 28 RBI, .344 OBP
CF	#15	Nick Senzel	27	R/R	.231 AVG, 5 HR, 25 RBI, 8 SB
3B	#7	Spencer Steer (R)	25	R/R	.211 AVG, 2 HR, 8 RBI, .306 OBP
RF	#29	T.J. Friedl	27	L/L	.240 AVG, 8 HR, 25 RBI, 7 SB
SS	#28	Kevin Newman	29	R/R	.274 AVG, 2 HR, 24 RBI, 8 SB – PIT

POS	NO.	BENCH	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
C	#12	Curt Casali	34	R/R	.203 AVG, 5 HR, 17 RBI, .649 OPS – SF/SEA
INF	#2	José Barrero	24	R/R	.152 AVG, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 4 SB
OF	#57	Stuart Fairchild (R)	27	R/R	.247 AVG, 5 HR, 6 RBI, .800 OPS – SEA/SF/CIN
OF	#30	Will Benson (R)	24	L/L	.182 AVG, 0 HR, 3 RBI, .250 OBP – CIN

–	NO.	ROTATION	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
SP	#21	Hunter Greene	23	RHP	5-13, 4.44 ERA, 164 Ks, 1.21 WHIP
SP	#40	Nick Lodolo	25	LHP	4-7, 3.66 ERA, 131 Ks, 1.25 WHIP
SP	#51	Graham Ashcraft	25	LHP	5-6, 4.89 ERA, 71 Ks, 1.42 WHIP
SP	#85	Luis Cessa	30	RHP	4-4, 4.57 ERA, 59 Ks, 1.29 WHIP
SP	#71	Connor Overton	29	RHP	1-0, 2.73 ERA, 14 Ks, 0.97 WHIP

–	NO.	BULLPEN	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
CP	#43	Alexis Díaz	26	RHP	10 SVs, 1.84 ERA, 83 Ks, 0.96 WHIP
SU	#46	Buck Farmer	32	RHP	2 SVs, 3.83 ERA, 54 Ks, 1.30 WHIP
RP	#79	Ian Gibaut	29	RHP	1 SV, 4.50 ERA, 48 Ks, 1.58 WHIP – CLE/CIN
RP	#66	Joel Kuhnel	28	RHP	1 SV, 6.36 ERA, 56 Ks, 1.40 WHIP
RP	#52	Reiver Sanmartín	26	LHP	57 IP, 6.32 ERA, 47 Ks, 1.67 WHIP
RP	#39	Lucas Sims	28	RHP	1 SV, 9.45 ERA, 5 Ks, 1.65 WHIP
RP	#63	Fernando Cruz (R)	32	RHP	14.2 IP, 1.23 ERA, 21 Ks, 1.23 WHIP
RP	#34	Luke Weaver	29	RHP	35.2 IP, 6.56 ERA, 38 Ks, 1.82 WHIP – ARI/KC

POS	NO.	INJURED LIST	Age	B/T	Injury
SP	#49	Justin Dunn	27	RHP	Shoulder injury Potential return in June
RP	#64	Tony Santillan	26	RHP	Back injury Potential return in May
RP	#70	Tejay Antone	29	RHP	Elbow injury Potential return in July
RP	#53	Vladimir Gutiérrez	27	RHP	Elbow injury Potential return in June

DEPTH PIECES/AAA STARTERS:
Bennett Sousa – #33 (RP, Age: 27, LHP)
Luke Maile – #22 (C, Age: 32, R/R)
Nick Solak – #16 (OF, Age: 28, R/R)
Michael Siani – #38 (OF, Age: 23, L/L)

TOP PROSPECTS WHO COULD MAKE THEIR DEBUTS IN 2023:
Elly De La Cruz (SS/3B, Age: 21, S/R, MLB Rank: #10)
Brandon Williamson (P, Age: 24, LHP, CIN Rank: #10)
Andrew Abbott (P, Age: 23, LHP, CIN Rank: #11)
Levi Stoudt (P, Age: 25, RHP, CIN Rank: #15)

NOTABLE NON-ROSTER INVITES:
Chase Anderson (SP, Age: 35, RHP)
Daniel Norris (SP, Age: 30, LHP)
Hunter Strickland (RP, Age: 34, RHP)
Alex Young (RP, Age: 29, LHP)
Matt Reynolds (INF, Age: 32, R/R)

PAUL’S THOUGHTS:
MVP: 2B Jonathan India
Breakout Player: 3B/1B Spencer Steer
Grade: D
Lineup Rank: 15th
Rotation Rank: 12th
Bullpen Rank: 14th

There’s no doubt that the Reds have struggled over the past few seasons, and the team is still looking for a little consistency throughout their rebuild process. A bunch of young players have come up without too much showing of potential success. Jonathan India is probably their franchise cornerstone, while Joey Votto still remains, playing out the dog days of the massive contract he signed nearly a decade ago. Wil Myers and Kevin Newman should add some veteran leadership to the lineup, and as long as he is healthy, Tyler Stephenson has been one of the better hitting catchers in the game. Top 10 prospect Elly De La Cruz is going to be a reinforcement that the franchise will likely look forward to, as he can hopefully come up and create a dynamic middle of the infield with India.

The rotation is filled out with young and pretty talented arms. Hunter Greene was a top prospect and has shown some flashes of potential along with Lodolo and Ashcraft. These three should be solid guys the franchise will rely on to be the key pieces in the rotation. Luis Cessa did great when converted into a starting role last year and hopefully can do the same again this year. Alexis Diaz was the shining piece in the bullpen and should become the closer that attracts a lot of trade interest from contenders (cough, cough, Mets). A plethora of injuries will keep a few arms on the shelf but the hope will be to get healthy by mid-season. This team is definitely not a contender but once again, the rebuild process is in full effect and they will be looking for a strong showing from their young guys.

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Milwaukee Brewers

Manager: Craig Counsell
9th year, Career/Team record: 615-555, Playoff record: 7-10 – AGE: 52

POS	NO.	LINEUP	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
RF	#33	Jesse Winker	29	L/L	.219 AVG, 14 HR, 53 RBI, .344 OBP – SEA
SS	#27	Willy Adames	27	R/R	.238 AVG, 31 HR, 98 RBI, 8 SB
LF	#22	Christian Yelich	31	L/R	.252 AVG, 14 HR, 57 RBI, 19 SB
1B	#11	Rowdy Tellez	28	L/L	.219 AVG, 35 HR, 89 RBI, .767 OPS
C	#24	William Contreras	25	R/R	.278 AVG, 20 HR, 45 RBI, .860 OPS – ATL
2B	#2	Luis Urías	25	R/R	.239 AVG, 16 HR, 47 RBI, .335 OBP
DH	#18	Keston Hiura	26	R/R	.226 AVG, 14 HR, 32 RBI, 5 SB
3B	#9	Brian Anderson	29	R/R	.222 AVG, 8 HR, 28 RBI, .311 OBP – MIA
CF	#5	Garrett Mitchell (R)	24	L/R	.311 AVG, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 8 SB

POS	NO.	BENCH	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
C/1B	#7	Víctor Caratini	29	S/R	.199 AVG, 9 HR, 34 RBI, .300 OBP
UTIL	#10	Mike Brosseau	29	R/R	.255 AVG, 6 HR, 23 RBI, .344 OBP
1B/2B	#6	Owen Miller	26	R/R	.243 AVG, 6 HR, 51 RBI, 2 SB – CLE
UTIL	#13	Abraham Toro	26	S/R	.185 AVG, 10 HR, 35 RBI, 2 SB – SEA

–	NO.	ROTATION	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
SP	#39	Corbin Burnes	28	RHP	12-8, 2.94 ERA, 243 Ks, 0.97 WHIP
SP	#53	Brandon Woodruff	30	RHP	13-4, 3.05 ERA, 190 Ks, 1.07 WHIP
SP	#51	Freddy Peralta	26	RHP	4-4, 3.58 ERA, 86 Ks, 1.04 WHIP
SP	#20	Wade Miley	36	LHP	2-2, 3.16 ERA, 28 Ks, 1.22 WHIP – CHC
SP	#52	Eric Lauer	27	LHP	11-7, 3.69 ERA, 157 Ks, 1.22 WHIP

–	NO.	BULLPEN	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
CP	#38	Devin Williams	28	RHP	15 SVs, 1.93 ERA, 96 Ks, 1.01 WHIP
SU	#21	Matt Bush	37	RHP	3 SVs, 3.47 ERA, 74 Ks, 1.02 WHIP – TEX/MIL
RP	#55	Hoby Milner	27	LHP	64.2 IP, 3.76 ERA, 64 Ks, 1.18 WHIP
RP	#31	Joel Payamps	28	RHP	55.2 IP, 3.23 ERA, 41 Ks, 1.37 WHIP – KC/OAK
RP	#58	Alex Claudio	31	LHP	3.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 2 Ks, 0.90 WHIP – NYM
RP	#32	Peter Strzelecki (R)	28	RHP	1 SV, 2.83 ERA, 40 Ks, 1.23 WHIP
RP	#12	Javy Guerra	27	RHP	18 IP, 5.00 ERA, 10 Ks, 1.50 WHIP – SD/TB
RP	#37	Adrian Houser	30	RHP	6-10, 4.73 ERA, 69 Ks, 1.46 WHIP

POS	NO.	INJURED LIST	Age	B/T	Injury
OF	#15	Tyrone Taylor	29	R/R	Elbow injury Potential return in May
SP	#26	Aaron Ashby	24	LHP	Shoulder injury Potential return in May
RP	#35	Justin Wilson	35	LHP	Tommy John Surgery Potential return in June
RP	#41	Jason Alexander	30	RHP	Shoulder injury Potential return in June

DEPTH PIECES/AAA STARTERS:
Bryse Wilson – #46 (SP, Age: 25, RHP)
Gus Varland – #74 (RP, Age: 26, RHP)
Janson Junk – #66 (RP, Age: 27, RHP)
Jake Cousins – #54 (RP, Age: 28, RHP)
Payton Henry – #50 (C, Age: 25, R/R)

TOP PROSPECTS WHO COULD MAKE THEIR DEBUTS IN 2023:
Sal Frelick (OF, Age: 22, L/R, MLB Rank: #30)
Joey Wiemer (OF, Age: 24, R/R, MLB Rank: #90)
Brice Turang (UTIL, Age: 23, L/R, MIL Rank: #5)
Robert Gasser (P, Age: 23, LHP, MIL Rank: #10)

NOTABLE NON-ROSTER INVITES:
Robert Stock (SP, Age: 33, RHP)
J.C. Mejia (RP, Age: 26, RHP)
Alex Jackson (C, Age: 27, R/R)
Josh VanMeter (UTIL, Age: 28, L/R)
Luke Voit (1B, Age: 32, R/R)
Tyler Naquin (OF, Age: 32, L/R)
Skye Bolt (UTIL, Age: 29, S/R)

PAUL’S THOUGHTS:
MVP: SP Corbin Burnes
Breakout Player: OF Garrett Mitchell
Grade: C+
Lineup Rank: 9th
Rotation Rank: 5th
Bullpen Rank: 7th

After a down year last season, the Brewers return a relatively similar team looking to flip the script in 2023. A few bats left in Hunter Renfroe, Kolten Wong, and Andrew McCutchen, while a few new names have entered in Jesse Winker, Brian Anderson, and William Contreras. The top guys still remain with Christian Yelich still looking to find his old MVP form and Willy Adames who surpassed 30 homers in a bit of a breakout season. The all-around offense does not look too bad as the team has been able to get the most out of a few players they picked up on the scrap. Garrett Mitchell had a very good and short showing at the end of last year, with a ton of speed and a solid bat he should be able to make an impact as the every day CF. A lot of the success with this team though will be centered around Christian Yelich who can make or break this lineup single handedly.

The pitching has never been an issue, as they return Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes and all-star’s Brandon Woodruff, Freddy Peralta, and Devin Williams. The shocking deadline trade of Josh Hader to the Padres led way for Williams to step in as the closer, and he did not disappoint, proving his shortened 2020 Reliever of the Year season was not a fluke. Wade Miley was brought on to be the veteran on the staff and the fifth spot, when fully healthy, should be between Eric Lauer or Adrian Houser. I think the Brewers have a very solid team, so much so that a year ago I predicted them to win the World Series (not doing that again this time). They’re a fringe Wild Card team and with all of the upgrades the Cubs have made, they’ll be fighting with them to even be considered a playoff team. Remember, we have 3 Wild Card spots, with any trio of Mets, Braves, Phillies, Dodgers, and Padres being the favorites to land those. Whoever doesn’t win the NL Central will have a tough time squeezing into the playoffs.

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Pittsburgh Pirates

Manager: Derek Shelton
4th year, Career/Team record: 142-242 – AGE: 52

POS	NO.	LINEUP	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
SS	#15	Oneil Cruz	24	L/R	.233 AVG, 17 HR, 54 RBI, 10 SB
CF	#10	Bryan Reynolds	28	S/R	.262 AVG, 27 HR, 62 RBI, 7 SB
LF	#22	Andrew McCutchen	36	R/R	.237 AVG, 17 HR, 69 RBI, 8 SB – MIL
DH	#91	Ji-Man Choi	31	L/R	.233 AVG, 11 HR, 52 RBI, .341 OBP – TB
1B	#41	Carlos Santana	36	S/R	.202 AVG, 19 HR, 60 RBI, .316 OBP – KC/SEA
3B	#13	Ke’Bryan Hayes	26	R/R	.244 AVG, 7 HR, 41 RBI, 20 SB
2B	#3	Ji-Hwan Bae (R)	23	L/R	11/33, 0 HR, 6 RBI, 3 SB
C	#18	Austin Hedges	30	R/R	.163 AVG, 7 HR, 30 RBI, .241 OBP – CLE
RF	#65	Jack Suwinski	24	L/L	.202 AVG, 19 HR, 38 RBI, 4 SB

POS	NO.	BENCH	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
C	#54	Tyler Heineman	31	S/R	.217 AVG, 0 HR, 9 RBI, 1 SB – TOR/PIT
INF	#14	Rodolfo Castro	23	S/R	.233 AVG, 11 HR, 27 RBI, 5 SB
2B/OF	#30	Tucupita Marcano	23	L/R	.206 AVG, 2 HR, 13 RBI, 2 SB
1B/OF	#2	Connor Joe	30	R/R	.238 AVG, 7 HR, 28 RBI, 6 SB – COL

–	NO.	ROTATION	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
SP	#44	Rich Hill	43	LHP	8-7, 4.27 ERA, 109 Ks, 1.30 WHIP – BOS
SP	#27	Vince Velasquez	30	RHP	3-3, 4.78 ERA, 69 Ks, 1.23 WHIP – CWS
SP	#34	J.T. Brubaker	29	RHP	3-12, 4.69 ERA, 147 Ks, 1.47 WHIP
SP	#23	Mitch Keller	26	RHP	5-12, 3.91 ERA, 138 Ks, 1.40 WHIP
SP	#59	Roansy Contreras	23	RHP	5-5, 3.79 ERA, 86 Ks, 1.27 WHIP

–	NO.	BULLPEN	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
CP	#51	David Bednar	28	RHP	19 SVs, 2.61 ERA, 69 Ks, 1.12 WHIP
SU	#56	Duane Underwood Jr.	28	RHP	1 SV, 4.40 ERA, 57 Ks, 1.45 WHIP
RP	#35	Colin Holderman (R)	27	RHP	28.1 IP, 3.81 ERA, 24 Ks, 1.20 WHIP – NYM/PIT
RP	#62	Rob Zastryzny	31	LHP	4 IP, 6.75 ERA, 3 Ks, 1.00 WHIP – NYM/LAA
RP	#57	Yerry De Los Santos	25	RHP	3 SVs, 4.91 ERA, 26 Ks, 1.29 WHIP
RP	#37	Chase De Jong	29	RHP	1 SV, 2.64 ERA, 59 Ks, 1.14 WHIP
RP	#29	Wil Crowe	28	RHP	4 SVs, 4.38 ERA, 68 Ks, 1.39 WHIP
RP	#24	Johan Oviedo	25	RHP	4-3, 3.21 ERA, 54 Ks, 1.29 WHIP – STL/PIT

POS	NO.	INJURED LIST	Age	B/T	Injury
SP	#45	Max Kranick	25	RHP	Tommy John Surgery Potential return in August
RP	#66	Jarlín García	30	LHP	Nerve injury Potential return in May
RP	#43	Robert Stephenson	30	RHP	Right elbow discomfort Potential return in April

DEPTH PIECES/AAA STARTERS:
Luis Ortiz – #48 (SP, Age: 24, RHP)
Dauri Moreta – #36 (RP, Age: 26, RHP)
Yohan Ramirez – #46 (RP, Age: 27, RHP)
Liover Peguero – #60 (INF, Age: 22, R/R)
Cal Mitchell – #31 (OF, Age: 24, L/L)
Canaan Smith-Njigba – #28 (OF, Age: 23, L/R)
Travis Swaggerty – #5 (OF, Age: 25, L/L)
Mark Mathias – #89 (OF, Age: 28, R/R)

TOP PROSPECTS WHO COULD MAKE THEIR DEBUTS IN 2023:
Endy Rodriguez (C, Age: 22, S/R, MLB Rank: #55)
Quinn Priester (P, Age: 22, RHP, MLB Rank: #60)
Nick Gonzales (INF, Age: 23, R/R, PIT Rank: #5)
Mike Burrows (P, Age: 23, RHP, PIT Rank: #9)

NOTABLE NON-ROSTER INVITES:
Tyler Chatwood (RP, Age: 33, RHP)
Caleb Smith (RP, Age: 31, LHP)
Chris Owings (INF, Age: 31, R/R)
Miguel Andujar (3B/OF, Age: 28, R/R)

PAUL’S THOUGHTS:
MVP: CF Bryan Reynolds
Breakout Player: SS Oneil Cruz
Grade: D
Lineup Rank: 13th
Rotation Rank: 14th
Bullpen Rank: 13th

After years of refusing to spend, the Pirates, in some ways, look to be somewhat righting the ship. Now they didn’t land any big time free agents, or anyone for more than a few million, but the team decided to bring in a handful of veterans to pair with their young core. Pirate legend and former MVP Andrew McCutchen was signed presumptively to finish out his career where it all started. Carlos Santana, Ji-Man Choi, and Austin Hedges were a few more veteran bats they added. And of course the young core still remains headlined by Bryan Reynolds, Ke’Bryan Hayes, and phenom Oneil Cruz. Cruz is a different breed as a 6’7 100 mph throwing SS, he was the newcomer that gained the most attention last year.

On the pitching end both Rich Hill and Vince Velasquez were signed to front line the rotation. Hill is now entering his age 43 season and doesn’t seem to be planning on stopping any time soon. J.T. Brubaker and Mitch Keller have been two righties who have stuck around through a good portion of the turnover in the past few years. David Bednar became an all-star closer and the team will look to see what they can get from a couple of promising talents in Johan Oviedo and Colin Holderman. The Pirates will be at the bottom of the NL again, but some pieces are giving hope that the team may be able to compete soon. Extending Bryan Reynolds would be a big indication they’re serious about trying to build a winner.

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St. Louis Cardinals

Manager: Oliver Marmol
2nd year, Career/Team record: 93-69, Playoff record: 0-2 – AGE: 36

POS	NO.	LINEUP	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
SS	#19	Tommy Edman	27	S/R	.265 AVG, 13 HR, 57 RBI, 32 SB
2B	#33	Brendan Donovan	26	L/R	.281 AVG, 5 HR, 45 RBI, .394 OBP
1B	#46	Paul Goldschmidt	35	R/R	.317 AVG, 35 HR, 115 RBI, .981 OPS
3B	#28	Nolan Arenado	31	R/R	.293 AVG, 30 HR, 103 RBI, .891 OPS
C	#40	Willson Contreras	30	R/R	.243 AVG, 22 HR, 55 RBI, .349 OBP – CHC
LF	#27	Tyler O’Neill	27	R/R	.228 AVG, 14 HR, 58 RBI, 14 SB
RF	#67	Jordan Walker (R)	20	R/R	MLB Rank: #4
CF	#3	Dylan Carlson	24	S/L	.236 AVG, 8 HR, 42 RBI, 5 SB
DH	#21	Lars Nootbaar	25	L/R	.228 AVG, 14 HR, 40 RBI, .340 OBP

POS	NO.	BENCH	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
C	#7	Andrew Knizner	28	R/R	.215 AVG, 4 HR, 25 RBI, .301 OBP
INF	#16	Nolan Gorman	22	L/R	.226 AVG, 14 HR, 35 RBI, .721 OPS
UTIL	#13	Juan Yepez	25	R/R	.253 AVG, 12 HR, 30 RBI, .742 OPS
OF/1B	#41	Alec Burleson (R)	24	L/L	9/48, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 SB

–	NO.	ROTATION	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
SP	#39	Miles Mikolas	34	RHP	12-13, 3.29 ERA, 153 Ks, 1.03 WHIP
SP	#22	Jack Flaherty	27	RHP	2-1, 4.25 ERA, 33 Ks, 1.61 WHIP
SP	#32	Steven Matz	31	LHP	5-3, 5.25 ERA, 54 Ks, 1.25 WHIP
SP	#47	Jordan Montgomery	30	LHP	9-6, 3.48 ERA, 158 Ks, 1.09 WHIP – NYY/STL
SP	#53	Andre Pallante	24	RHP	6-5, 3.17 ERA, 73 Ks, 1.42 WHIP

–	NO.	BULLPEN	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
CP	#56	Ryan Helsley	28	RHP	19 SVs, 1.25 ERA, 94 Ks, 0.74 WHIP
SU	#65	Giovanny Gallegos	31	RHP	14 SVs, 3.05 ERA, 73 Ks, 1.02 WHIP
RP	#12	Jordan Hicks	26	RHP	3-6, 4.84 ERA, 63 Ks, 1.32 WHIP
RP	#30	Chris Stratton	32	RHP	2 SVs, 4.26 ERA, 60 Ks, 1.53 WHIP – PIT/STL
RP	#44	Jake Woodford	26	RHP	48.1 IP, 2.23 ERA, 24 Ks, 1.12 WHIP
RP	#72	Anthony Misiewicz	28	LHP	29 IP, 4.34 ERA, 27 Ks, 1.28 WHIP – SEA/KC
RP	#59	JoJo Romero	26	LHP	16.1 IP, 4.96 ERA, 17 Ks, 1.41 WHIP – PHI/STL
RP	#57	Zack Thompson (R)	25	LHP	1 SV, 2.08 ERA, 27 Ks, 0.98 WHIP

POS	NO.	INJURED LIST	Age	B/T	Injury
SS	#11	Paul DeJong	29	R/R	Lower back injury Potential return in May
SP	#50	Adam Wainwright	41	RHP	Groin injury Potential return in May

DEPTH PIECES/AAA STARTERS:
Dakota Hudson – #43 (SP, Age: 28, RHP)
Matthew Liberatore – #52 (SP, Age: 23, LHP)
Packy Naughton – #70 (RP, Age: 26, LHP)
Génesis Cabrera – #92 (RP, Age: 26, LHP)
Drew VerHagen – #34 (RP, Age: 32, RHP)
Iván Herrera – #48 (C, Age: 21, R/R)

TOP PROSPECTS WHO COULD MAKE THEIR DEBUTS IN 2023:
Masyn Winn (SS, Age: 21, R/R, MLB Rank: #50)
Gordon Graceffo (P, Age: 23, RHP, MLB Rank: #79)
Moises Gómez (OF, Age: 24, R/R, STL Rank: #14)

NOTABLE NON-ROSTER INVITES:
Kodi Whitley (RP, Age: 28, RHP)
Oscar Mercado (OF, Age: 28, R/R)

PAUL’S THOUGHTS:
MVP: 1B Paul Goldschmidt
Breakout Player: OF Jordan Walker
Grade: B+
Lineup Rank: 2nd
Rotation Rank: 8th
Bullpen Rank: 4th

The first year of the Oli Marmol era went pretty solid, with a 93-69 season winning the NL Central. Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado have become one of the best middles of the order in all of baseball. Goldschmidt ended up winning MVP and Arenado won his tenth straight NL Gold Glove. Around them, the lineup looks pretty stacked with Edman, Carlson, and O’Neill. Willson Contreras was also added to take over the reigns from future Hall of Famer Yadier Molina in the back stop. The emergence of young prospects Jordan Walker and Masyn Winn in free agency also added more anticipation to the Cardinals onset of offense.

On the pitching end, Adam Wainwright returns for what’s presumed to be his final season in St. Louis. The two time champion will start the season on the IL, but Mikolas, Flaherty, and Montgomery will fill out the rest of the core. Steven Matz had a down year after signing his four-year contract last offseason and the team will look to get more out of the up and down and inconsistent lefty. Ryan Helsey and Giovanny Gallegos are the two big arms in the pen that should see the majority of closing opportunities. Jordan Hicks now returns in full health and will look to possibly rejoin the rotation after building up some more time in the bullpen. I think by far the Cardinals are the favorites to win the NL Central, similar to what we saw last year. Will they be a contender with the powerhouses of the East and West? I’m not sure but the team looks tough and should be in the mix.

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Arizona Diamondbacks

Manager: Torey Lovullo
7th year, Career/Team record: 411-459, Playoff record: 1-3 – AGE: 57

POS	NO.	LINEUP	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
LF	#7	Corbin Carroll (R)	22	L/L	MLB Rank: #2
CF	#5	Alek Thomas	22	L/L	.231 AVG, 8 HR, 39 RBI, 4 SB
2B	#4	Ketel Marte	29	S/R	.240 AVG, 12 HR, 52 RBI, 5 SB
1B	#53	Christian Walker	31	R/R	.242 AVG, 36 HR, 94 RBI, .804 OPS
3B	#3	Evan Longoria	37	R/R	.244 AVG, 14 HR, 42 RBI, .315 OBP – SF
RF	#31	Jake McCarthy	25	L/L	.283 AVG, 8 HR, 43 RBI, 23 SB
DH	#12	Lourdes Gurriel Jr.	29	R/R	.291 AVG, 5 HR, 52 RBI, 3 SB – TOR
C	#14	Gabriel Moreno (R)	23	R/R	.319 AVG, 1 HR, 7 RBI, .733 OPS – TOR
SS	#13	Nick Ahmed	33	R/R	.231 AVG, 3 HR, 7 RBI, .709 OPS

POS	NO.	BENCH	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
C	#11	Jose Herrera (R)	26	S/R	.189 AVG, 0 HR, 5 RBI, .250 OBP
3B/1B	#10	Josh Rojas	28	L/R	.269 AVG, 9 HR, 56 RBI, 23 SB
INF	#2	Geraldo Perdomo	23	S/R	.195 AVG, 5 HR, 40 RBI, 9 SB
RF/1B	#26	Pavin Smith	27	L/L	.220 AVG, 9 HR, 33 RBI, .300 OBP

–	NO.	ROTATION	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
SP	#40	Madison Bumgarner	33	LHP	7-15, 4.88 ERA, 112 Ks, 1.44 WHIP
SP	#23	Zac Gallen	27	RHP	12-4, 2.54 ERA, 192 Ks, 0.91 WHIP
SP	#29	Merrill Kelly	34	RHP	13-8, 3.37 ERA, 177 Ks, 1.14 WHIP
SP	#27	Zach Davies	30	RHP	2-5, 4.09 ERA, 102 Ks, 1.30 WHIP
SP	#99	Drey Jameson (R)	25	RHP	3-0, 1.48 ERA, 24 Ks, 1.11 WHIP

–	NO.	BULLPEN	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
CP	#57	Andrew Chafin	32	LHP	3 SVs, 2.83 ERA, 67 Ks, 1.17 WHIP – DET
SU	#35	Joe Mantiply	32	LHP	2 SVs, 2.85 ERA, 61 Ks, 1.08 WHIP
RP	#50	Miguel Castro	28	RHP	29 IP, 4.03 ERA, 31 Ks, 1.45 WHIP – NYY
RP	#37	Kevin Ginkel	28	RHP	1 SV, 3.38 ERA, 30 Ks, 1.30 WHIP
RP	#24	Kyle Nelson	26	LHP	37 IP, 2.19 ERA, 30 Ks, 1.08 WHIP
RP	#54	Cole Sulser	33	RHP	2 SVs, 5.29 ERA, 38 Ks, 1.62 WHIP – MIA
RP	#30	Scott McGough (R)	33	RHP	DNP – Played in NPB
RP	#19	Ryne Nelson (R)	25	RHP	18.1 IP, 1.47 ERA, 16 Ks, 0.82 WHIP

POS	NO.	INJURED LIST	Age	B/T	Injury
C	#18	Carson Kelly	28	R/R	Fractured forearm Potential return in June
SP	#25	Corbin Martin	27	RHP	Lat tendon tear No timetable for return
CP	#34	Mark Melancon	37	RHP	Shoulder injury Potential return in June

DEPTH PIECES/AAA STARTERS:
Luis Frías – #65 (SP, Age: 24, RHP)
Tyler Zuber – #53 (RP, Age: 27, RHP)
Tommy Henry – #47 (SP, Age: 25, LHP)
Seth Beer – #28 (1B, Age: 26, L/R)
Diego Castillo – #64 (INF, Age: 25, R/R)
Emmanuel Rivera – #15 (INF, Age: 26, R/R)
Kyle Lewis – #1 (OF, Age: 27, R/R)

TOP PROSPECTS WHO COULD MAKE THEIR DEBUTS IN 2023:
Brandon Pfaadt (P, Age: 24, RHP, MLB Rank: #59)
Blaze Alexander (INF, Age: 23, R/R, ARI Rank: #11)

NOTABLE NON-ROSTER INVITES:
Austin Adams (RP, Age: 31, RHP)
Jandel Gustave (RP, Age: 30, RHP)
Juan Centeno (C, Age: 33, L/R)
Phillip Evans (INF, Age: 30, R/R)
Yairo Munoz (UTIL, Age: 28, R/R)

PAUL’S THOUGHTS:
MVP: SP Zac Gallen
Breakout Player: LF Corbin Carroll
Grade: C
Lineup Rank: 11th
Rotation Rank: 9th
Bullpen Rank: 10th

Coming off of a couple of down years, the Diamondbacks are looking to be a surprise contender in a tough NL. The young core should be the driving force, with baseball’s number 2 prospect Corbin Carroll set to join the OF from the start. Gabriel Moreno and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. were also added in the Daulton Varsho deal this offseason and should add some solid force on offense. And of course Ketel Marte returns looking to bounce back from a down year and Christian Walker will be the power bat in the middle of the order. Alek Thomas and Jake McCarthy were two rookies last year that showed a ton of force, with McCarthy being one of the fastest young prospects in baseball. I honestly am looking forward to the D-Backs young lineup and what they can accomplish this year. They’ll definitely benefit from not having to play their division rivals for six series’ a year anymore.

The rotation still shines with a front end of Madison Bumgarner, Zac Gallen, and Merrill Kelly. Gallen has become the real ace of the rotation after a dynamic season a year ago, almost surpassing 200 strikeouts. Mad Bum on the other hand has not been the same in nearly any fashion since signing his long-term deal with Arizona. Drey Jameson and Corbin Martin are a couple of the young pieces they will look to carry the rotation in years to come. Andrew Chafin was also signed in what should be a closer role for him until Mark Melancon is set to return. Joe Mantiply emerged as an all-star last season and should also see some high leverage situations in the bullpen. The pitching may not be the strong suit but the offense has the potential to be all around very dominant. It’ll be an uphill battle to make the playoffs, but I think Arizona will stick around and make things interesting throughout the whole year.

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Colorado Rockies

Manager: Bud Black
7th year in COL, Career record: 1,066-1,166, Team record: 417-453, Playoff record: 1-4 – AGE: 65

POS	NO.	LINEUP	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
LF	#29	Jurickson Profar	30	S/R	.243 AVG, 15 HR, 58 RBI, .331 OBP – SD
CF	#23	Kris Bryant	31	R/R	.306 AVG, 5 HR, 14 RBI, .376 OBP
RF	#19	Charlie Blackmon	36	L/L	.264 AVG, 16 HR, 78 RBI, 4 SB
1B	#25	C.J. Cron	33	R/R	.257 AVG, 29 HR, 102 RBI, .783 OPS
DH	#15	Randal Grichuk	31	R/R	.259 AVG, 19 HR, 73 RBI, 4 SB
3B	#24	Ryan McMahon	28	L/R	.246 AVG, 20 HR, 67 RBI, 7 SB
C	#35	Elías Díaz	32	R/R	.228 AVG, 9 HR, 51 RBI, .281 OBP
2B	#11	Mike Moustakas	34	L/R	.214 AVG, 7 HR, 25 RBI, .295 OBP – CIN
SS	#14	Ezequiel Tovar (R)	21	R/R	7/33, 1 HR, 2 RBI, .257 OBP

POS	NO.	BENCH	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
C	#6	Brian Serven	27	R/R	.203 AVG, 6 HR, 16 RBI, .261 OBP
INF	#13	Alan Trejo	26	R/R	.271 AVG, 4 HR, 17 RBI, .736 OPS
OF	#2	Yonathan Daza	29	R/R	.301 AVG, 2 HR, 34 RBI, .344 OBP
OF	#4	Michael Toglia (R)	24	S/L	.216 AVG, 2 HR, 12 RBI, .275 OBP

–	NO.	ROTATION	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
SP	#48	Germán Márquez	28	RHP	9-13, 5.00 ERA, 150 Ks, 1.37 WHIP
SP	#21	Kyle Freeland	29	LHP	9-11, 4.53 ERA, 131 Ks, 1.41 WHIP
SP	#26	Austin Gomber	29	LHP	5-7, 5.56 ERA, 95 Ks, 1.37 WHIP
SP	#18	Ryan Feltner	26	RHP	4-9, 5.83 ERA, 84 Ks, 1.41 WHIP
SP	#51	José Ureña	31	RHP	3-8, 5.01 ERA, 63 Ks, 1.57 WHIP – MIL/COL

–	NO.	BULLPEN	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
CP	#52	Daniel Bard	37	RHP	34 SVs, 1.79 ERA, 69 Ks, 0.99 WHIP
SU	#55	Brad Hand	33	LHP	5 SVs, 2.80 ERA, 38 Ks, 1.33 WHIP – PHI
RP	#39	Brent Suter	33	LHP	66.2 IP, 3.78 ERA, 53 Ks, 1.20 WHIP – MIL
RP	#59	Jake Bird	27	RHP	47.2 IP, 4.91 ERA, 42 Ks, 1.43 WHIP
RP	#61	Justin Lawrence	28	RHP	1 SV, 5.70 ERA, 48 Ks, 1.55 WHIP
RP	#32	Dinelson Lamet	30	RHP	32.1 IP, 6.12 ERA, 45 Ks, 1.52 WHIP – SD/COL
RP	#36	Pierce Johnson	31	RHP	14.1 IP, 5.02 ERA, 21 Ks, 1.53 WHIP – SD
RP	#20	Peter Lambert	25	RHP	DNP – Elbow injury

POS	NO.	INJURED LIST	Age	B/T	Injury
2B	#7	Brendan Rodgers	26	R/R	Left shoulder injury Likely to miss entire season
SP	#49	Antonio Senzatela	28	RHP	ACL surgery Potential return in May
RP	#58	Lucas Gilbreath	27	LHP	Tommy John Surgery Likely to miss entire season
RP	#40	Tyler Kinley	32	RHP	Elbow surgery Potential return in June

DEPTH PIECES/AAA STARTERS:
Gavin Hollowell – #64 (RP, Age: 25, RHP)
Nick Mears – #46 (RP, Age: 26, RHP)
Elehuris Montero – #44 (INF, Age: 24, R/R)
Sean Bouchard – #12 (OF, Age: 26, R/R)
Nolan Jones – #22 (OF/1B, Age: 24, L/R)

TOP PROSPECTS WHO COULD MAKE THEIR DEBUTS IN 2023:
Brenton Doyle (OF, Age: 24, R/R, COL Rank: #16)

NOTABLE NON-ROSTER INVITES:
Ty Blach (RP, Age: 32, LHP)
T.J. Zeuch (RP, Age: 27, RHP)
Harold Castro (UTIL, Age: 29, L/R)
Cole Tucker (OF, Age: 26, S/R)

PAUL’S THOUGHTS:
MVP: 3B/OF Kris Bryant
Breakout Player: SS Ezequiel Tovar
Grade: C-
Lineup Rank: 10th
Rotation Rank: 13th
Bullpen Rank: 11th

After a down year in 2022, the Rockies didn’t do a whole lot to change things, as they look to have a relatively similar team this year. The Kris Bryant contract is one that still baffles me, as the team seemed unwilling to pay for a similarly priced, much better, homegrown player in Nolan Arenado. Anyway, the hitting is never the issue and a whole season with Bryant in the lineup could be big. Top prospect Ezequiel Tovar should become the every day SS while newcomer Jurickson Profar will be utilized as a super utility guy. With Brendan Rodgers likely to miss the whole season, veteran Mike Moustakas was brought in to man 3B and 2B.

As the hitting always dominates, the pitching not so much. The rotation brings back the usual faces in Marquez, Freeland, and Gomber who all struggled mightily pitching in Colorado’s high altitude. Former highly regarded righties Dinelson Lamet and Jose Urena are two projects that the team hopes can turn out as successes for them. Daniel Bard once again was dominant and signed a lengthy extension to be the closer, with Brad Hand likely to set him up. There isn’t a whole lot of hope for this team who I truly do not think will ever win it all until they put a dome over their park.

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Los Angeles Dodgers

Manager: Dave Roberts
8th year, Career/Team record: 653-380, Playoff record: 45-36 – AGE: 50

POS	NO.	LINEUP	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
RF	#50	Mookie Betts	30	R/R	.269 AVG, 35 HR, 82 RBI, 12 SB
SS	#11	Miguel Rojas	34	R/R	.236 AVG, 6 HR, 36 RBI, 9 SB
1B	#5	Freddie Freeman	33	L/R	.325 AVG, 21 HR, 100 RBI, .918 OPS
DH	#28	J.D. Martinez	35	R/R	.274 AVG, 16 HR, 62 RBI, .790 OPS – BOS
C	#16	Will Smith	27	R/R	.260 AVG, 24 HR, 87 RBI, .807 OPS
LF	#6	David Peralta	35	L/L	.251 AVG, 12 HR, 59 RBI, .731 OPS – ARI/TB
CF	#3	Chris Taylor	32	R/R	.221 AVG, 10 HR, 43 RBI, 10 SB
2B	#13	Max Muncy	32	L/R	.196 AVG, 21 HR, 69 RBI, .329 OBP
3B	#17	Miguel Vargas (R)	23	R/R	8/47, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 1 SB

POS	NO.	BENCH	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
C	#15	Austin Barnes	33	R/R	.212 AVG, 8 HR, 26 RBI, .324 OBP
OF	#77	James Outman (R)	25	L/R	6/13, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1.409 OPS
OF	#25	Trayce Thompson	32	R/R	.268 AVG, 13 HR, 39 RBI, .364 OBP
RF	#23	Jason Heyward	33	L/L	.204 AVG, 1 HR, 10 RBI, .278 OBP – CHC

–	NO.	ROTATION	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
SP	#22	Clayton Kershaw	35	LHP	12-3, 2.28 ERA, 137 Ks, 0.94 WHIP
SP	#7	Julio Urías	26	LHP	17-7, 2.16 ERA, 166 Ks, 0.96 WHIP
SP	#26	Tony Gonsolin	28	RHP	16-1, 2.14 ERA, 119 Ks, 0.87 WHIP
SP	#43	Noah Syndergaard	30	RHP	10-10, 3.94 ERA, 95 Ks, 1.25 WHIP – LAA/PHI
SP	#85	Dustin May	25	RHP	2-3, 4.50 ERA, 29 Ks, 1.17 WHIP

–	NO.	BULLPEN	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
CP	#41	Daniel Hudson	36	RHP	5 SVs, 2.22 ERA, 30 Ks, 0.90 WHIP
SU	#59	Evan Phillips	28	RHP	2 SVs, 1.14 ERA, 77 Ks, 0.76 WHIP
RP	#64	Caleb Ferguson	26	LHP	34.2 IP, 1.82 ERA, 37 Ks, 1.15 WHIP
RP	#48	Brusdar Graterol	24	RHP	4 SVs, 3.26 ERA, 43 Ks, 0.99 WHIP
RP	#52	Phil Bickford	27	RHP	61 IP, 4.72 ERA, 67 Ks, 1.10 WHIP
RP	#38	Yency Almonte	28	RHP	1 SV, 1.02 ERA, 33 Ks, 0.79 WHIP
RP	#51	Alex Vesia	26	LHP	1 SV, 2.15 ERA, 79 Ks, 1.12 WHIP
RP	#18	Shelby Miller	32	RHP	7 IP, 6.43 ERA, 14 Ks, 1.29 WHIP – SF

POS	NO.	INJURED LIST	Age	B/T	Injury
2B/SS	#9	Gavin Lux	25	L/R	Torn ACL Likely to miss entire season
SP	#21	Walker Buehler	28	RHP	Tommy John Surgery Likely to miss entire season
RP	#40	Jimmy Nelson	33	RHP	Tommy John Surgery Potential return in May
RP	#49	Blake Treinen	34	RHP	Torn rotator cuff Potential return in June
RP	#27	Alex Reyes	28	RHP	Shoulder surgery Potential return in June
RP	#45	J.P. Feyereisen	30	RHP	Shoulder surgery Potential return in June

DEPTH PIECES/AAA STARTERS:
Ryan Pepiot – #47 (SP, Age: 25, RHP)
Michael Grove – #78 (SP, Age: 26, RHP)
Andre Jackson – #94 (SP, Age: 26, RHP)
Victor Gonzalez – #81 (RP, Age: 27, LHP)
Justin Bruihl – #63 (RP, Age: 25, LHP)
Yonny Hernandez – #60 (INF, Age: 24, S/R)

TOP PROSPECTS WHO COULD MAKE THEIR DEBUTS IN 2023:
Bobby Miller (P, Age: 23, RHP, MLB Rank: #24)
Michael Busch (2B/OF, Age: 25, L/R, MLB Rank: #54)
Gavin Stone (P, Age: 24, RHP, MLB Rank: #56)
Andy Pages (OF, Age: 22, R/R, MLB Rank: #81)

NOTABLE NON-ROSTER INVITES:
Matt Andriese (RP, Age: 33, RHP)
Adam Kolarek (RP, Age: 34, LHP)
Jake Reed (RP, Age: 30, RHP)
Wander Suero (RP, Age: 31, RHP)
Patrick Mazeika (C, Age: 29, L/R)
Steven Duggar (OF, Age: 29, L/R)
Bradley Zimmer (OF, Age: 30, L/R)

PAUL’S THOUGHTS:
MVP: RF Mookie Betts
Breakout Player: 3B Miguel Vargas
Grade: A-
Lineup Rank: 5th
Rotation Rank: 1st
Bullpen Rank: 6th

The Dodgers, in Dodger fashion, were eliminated in the NLDS last year after having yet again another runaway season with the best record in baseball. Besides their 2020 COVID shortened championship, LA hasn’t had much to show for their nearly decade long reign of dominance. The future will continue to be bright though, as they once again have one of the top farm systems in baseball and have severla pieces ready to shine this year. They opted not to bring back Trea Turner, Cody Bellinger, and Justin Turner, and instead will roll with Miguel Rojas and youngsters Miguel Vargas and James Outman in elevated roles. J.D. Martinez, David Perlata, and Jason Heyward are a few veteran bats that will help out the OF and DH spots while Muncy, Smith, Freeman, Betts, and Taylor all return. This is still a top 5 offense in all of baseball.

The pitching will take a hit as Walker Buehler is slated to miss the entire season from Tommy John Surgery. A plethora of relievers including Blake Treinen, Daniel Hudson, and Jimmy Nelson will start the season on the shelf as well, leading way for the young arms to show out. Kershaw, Urias, and Gonsolin headline the top of the rotation, while Dustin May will try to get back to his pre-surgery form, and Noah Syndergaard will add some explosiveness while he tries to regain velocity. Evan Phillips, Yency Almonte, and Caleb Ferguson all had sub-2.00 ERA’s while being the staples of the bullpen. The combination of pitching depth and veteran bats will bode well for the Dodgers who will have a dog fight to hold off the Padres at the top of the NL West all season long. In the end, I think San Diego changes the narrative, not to say LA won’t be amazing and seen as the team to beat.

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San Diego Padres

Manager: Bob Melvin
2nd year in SD, Career record: 1,435-1,345, Team record: 89-73, Playoff record: 16-23 – AGE: 61

POS	NO.	LINEUP	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
SS	#2	Xander Bogaerts	30	R/R	.307 AVG, 15 HR, 73 RBI, .833 OPS – BOS
RF	#22	Juan Soto	24	L/L	.242 AVG, 27 HR, 62 RBI, .401 OBP – WSH/SD
3B	#13	Manny Machado	30	R/R	.298 AVG, 32 HR, 102 RBI, .898 OPS
LF	#23	Fernando Tatis Jr.	24	R/R	DNP – Injured
DH	#32	Nelson Cruz	42	R/R	.234 AVG, 10 HR, 64 RBI, .313 OBP – WSH
1B	#9	Jake Cronenworth	29	L/R	.240 AVG, 17 HR, 88 RBI, .333 OBP
2B	#7	Ha-Seong Kim	27	R/R	.251 AVG, 11 HR, 59 RBI, 12 SB
C	#26	Austin Nola	33	R/R	.251 AVG, 4 HR, 40 RBI, .321 OBP
CF	#1	Trent Grisham	26	L/L	.184 AVG, 17 HR, 53 RBI, .284 OBP

POS	NO.	BENCH	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
C	#12	Luis Campusano	24	R/R	12/48, 1 HR, 5 RBI, .260 OBP
3B/OF	#16	Brandon Dixon	31	R/R	3/14, 0 HR, 1 RBI, .214 OBP
RF/1B	#14	Matt Carpenter	37	L/R	.305 AVG, 15 HR, 37 RBI, 1.138 OPS – NYY
OF	#28	José Azócar	26	R/R	.257 AVG, 0 HR, 10 RBI, 5 SB

–	NO.	ROTATION	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
SP	#11	Yu Darvish	36	RHP	16-8, 3.10 ERA, 197 Ks, 0.95 WHIP
SP	#4	Blake Snell	30	LHP	8-10, 3.38 ERA, 171 Ks, 1.20 WHIP
SP	#44	Joe Musgrove	30	RHP	10-7, 2.93 ERA, 184 Ks, 1.08 WHIP
SP	#52	Michael Wacha	31	RHP	11-2, 3.32 ERA, 104 Ks, 1.12 WHIP – BOS
SP	#67	Seth Lugo	33	RHP	3 SVs, 3.60 ERA, 69 Ks, 1.17 WHIP – NYM

–	NO.	BULLPEN	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
CP	#71	Josh Hader	28	LHP	36 SVs, 5.22 ERA, 81 Ks, 1.28 WHIP – MIL/SD
SU	#21	Nick Martinez	32	RHP	8 SVs, 3.47 ERA, 95 Ks, 1.29 WHIP
RP	#66	Luis García	36	RHP	3 SVs, 3.39 ERA, 68 Ks, 1.21 WHIP
RP	#75	Robert Suarez	32	RHP	1 SV, 2.27 ERA, 61 Ks, 1.05 WHIP
RP	#25	Tim Hill	33	LHP	48 IP, 3.56 ERA, 25 Ks, 1.23 WHIP
RP	#74	Nabil Crismatt	28	RHP	67.1 IP, 2.94 ERA, 65 Ks, 1.17 WHIP
RP	#36	Steven Wilson	28	RHP	1 SV, 3.06 ERA, 53 Ks, 1.06 WHIP
RP	#50	Adrián Morejón	24	LHP	34 IP, 4.24 ERA, 28 Ks, 1.18 WHIP

POS	NO.	INJURED LIST	Age	B/T	Injury
3B	#10	Eguy Rosario	23	R/R	Broken ankle Potential return in June
RP	#15	Drew Pomeranz	34	LHP	Tendon surgery Potential return in May
RP	#34	Craig Stammen	39	RHP	Torn shoulder No timetable to return
RP	#65	José Castillo	27	LHP	Shoulder discomfort Potential return in June

DEPTH PIECES/AAA STARTERS:
Brett Honeywell Jr. – #45 (SP, Age: 27, RHP)
Ryan Weathers – #40 (SP, Age: 23, LHP)
Michel Baez – #49 (RP, Age: 27, RHP)
Reiss Knehr – #33 (RP, Age: 26, RHP)
Matthew Batten – #17 (1B, Age: 27, R/R)

TOP PROSPECTS WHO COULD MAKE THEIR DEBUTS IN 2023:
Jay Groome (P, Age: 24, LHP, SD Rank: #9)
Jose Lopez (P, Age: 24, LHP, SD Rank: #18)

NOTABLE NON-ROSTER INVITES:
Cole Hamels (SP, Age: 39, LHP)
Sean Poppen (RP, Age: 29, RHP)
Domingo Tapia (RP, Age: 31, RHP)
Julio Teheran (SP, Age: 32, RHP)
Pedro Severino (C, Age: 29, R/R)
Rougned Odor (INF, Age: 29, L/R)
Alfonso Rivas (1B, Age: 26, L/L)
Max Schrock (INF, Age: 28, L/R)
David Dahl (OF, Age: 29, L/R)

PAUL’S THOUGHTS:
MVP: RF Juan Soto
Breakout Player: RP Adrian Morejon
Grade: A-
Lineup Rank: 1st
Rotation Rank: 4th
Bullpen Rank: 3rd

After a year that saw probably the two biggest trades in franchise history, the Padres now get a full season with their stacked roster and will look to run the NL. Juan Soto and Josh Hader were both acquired at the deadline last year, two moves that fore-fronted San Diego into the team to beat. They ended up losing in the NLCS to the Phillies, creating a huge chip on their shoulder for this year. This offseason Manny Machado was extended on a new 10-year deal, and star SS Xander Bogaerts was added to take the reigns in the middle infield. Fernando Tatis Jr. will be returning from injury and Juan Soto will man the other outfield corner. Those four alone are a few of the best hitters the game has to offer and that’s not even the full lineup. Nelson Cruz was also added with two-time all-star Jake Cronenworth and Austin Nola set to return. This is by far the best lineup in all of baseball.

On the pitching side, Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, and Joe Musgrove have become one of the best top three in any rotation. Veterans Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha were added to fill out the rest of the rotation with last year’s set up man Nick Martinez potentially getting some starts. Hader struggled a ton after arriving in San Diego, but he’ll look to bounce back and continue to dominate with his nasty stuff. I think the Padres are the team to beat in all of baseball, and I’m not too sure that anyone can stop them if they’re firing on all cylinders. It’s amazing how quickly the narrative has switched from this franchise being a consistent dud to a powerhouse. That’s what deciding to spend money will do for a franchise.

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San Francisco Giants

Manager: Gabe Kapler
4th year in SF, Career record: 378-330, Team record: 217-167, Playoff record: 2-3 – AGE: 47

POS	NO.	LINEUP	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
1B	#31	LaMonte Wade Jr.	29	L/L	.207 AVG, 8 HR, 26 RBI, .305 OBP
LF	#23	Joc Pederson	30	L/L	.274 AVG, 23 HR, 70 RBI, .353 OBP
DH	#17	Mitch Haniger	32	R/R	.246 AVG, 11 HR, 34 RBI, .736 OPS – SEA
SS	#35	Brandon Crawford	36	L/R	.231 AVG, 9 HR, 52 RBI, .308 OBP
RF	#8	Michael Conforto	30	L/R	DNP – Free Agent/Injured
2B	#39	Thairo Estrada	27	R/R	.260 AVG, 14 HR, 62 RBI, 21 SB
3B	#7	J.D. Davis	29	R/R	.248 AVG, 12 HR, 35 RBI, .758 OPS – NYM/SF
C	#21	Joey Bart	26	R/R	.215 AVG, 11 HR, 25 RBI, .296 OBP
CF	#5	Mike Yastrzemski	32	L/L	.214 AVG, 17 HR, 57 RBI, 5 SB

POS	NO.	BENCH	Age	B/T	2022 Season Stats
C	#1	Roberto Pérez	34	R/R	.233 AVG, 2 HR, 8 RBI, .333 OBP – PIT
INF	#41	Wilmer Flores	31	R/R	.229 AVG, 19 HR, 71 RBI, .316 OBP
INF	#32	David Villar	26	R/R	.231 AVG, 9 HR, 24 RBI, .331 OBP
OF	#12	Heliot Ramos (R)	23	R/R	2/20, 0 HR, 0 RBI, .182 OBP

–	NO.	ROTATION	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
SP	#62	Logan Webb	26	RHP	15-9, 2.90 ERA, 163 Ks, 1.16 WHIP
SP	#52	Sean Manaea	31	LHP	8-9, 4.96 ERA, 156 Ks, 1.30 WHIP – SD
SP	#26	Anthony DeSclafani	32	RHP	19 IP, 6.63 ERA, 17 Ks, 2.00 WHIP
SP	#38	Alex Cobb	35	RHP	7-8, 3.73 ERA, 151 Ks, 1.30 WHIP
SP	#57	Alex Wood	32	LHP	8-12, 5.10 ERA, 131 Ks, 1.24 WHIP

–	NO.	BULLPEN	Age	R/L	2022 Season Stats
CP	#75	Camilo Doval	25	RHP	27 SVs, 2.53 ERA, 80 Ks, 1.24 WHIP
SU	#33	Taylor Rogers	32	LHP	31 SVs, 4.76 ERA, 84 Ks, 1.18 WHIP – SD/MIL
RP	#71	Tyler Rogers	32	RHP	75.2 IP, 3.57 ERA, 49 Ks, 1.27 WHIP
RP	#54	Scott Alexander	33	LHP	2 SVs, 1.04 ERA, 10 Ks, 0.75 WHIP
RP	#64	Sam Hjelle (R)	25	RHP	25 IP, 5.76 ERA, 28 Ks, 1.64 WHIP
RP	#34	Jakob Junis	30	RHP	5-7, 4.42 ERA, 98 Ks, 1.29 WHIP
RP	#59	John Brebbia	32	RHP	6-2, 3.18 ERA, 54 Ks, 1.31 WHIP
RP	#48	Ross Stripling	33	RHP	10-4, 3.01 ERA, 111 Ks, 1.02 WHIP – TOR

POS	NO.	INJURED LIST	Age	B/T	Injury
INF	#16	Donovan Walton	28	L/R	Shoulder surgery Potential return in June
1B/RP	#29	Ronald Guzmán	28	L/L	Forearm injury No timetable to return
OF	#51	Luis González	27	L/L	Back injury Potential return in May
OF	#13	Austin Slater	30	R/R	Hamstring injury Potential return in May
SP	#61	Thomas Szapucki	26	LHP	Neuropathy Potential return in June
RP	#77	Luke Jackson	31	RHP	Tommy John Surgery Potential return in July

DEPTH PIECES/AAA STARTERS:
Sam Long – #73 (RP, Age: 27, LHP)
Cole Waites – #56 (RP, Age: 24, RHP)
Isan Díaz – #10 (INF, Age: 26, L/R)

TOP PROSPECTS WHO COULD MAKE THEIR DEBUTS IN 2023:
Kyle Harrison (P, Age: 21, LHP, MLB Rank: #18)
Casey Schmitt (3B/SS, Age: 24, R/R, SF Rank: #4)
Keaton Winn (P, Age: 25, RHP, SF Rank: #14)

NOTABLE NON-ROSTER INVITES:
Trevor Hildenberger (RP, Age: 32, RHP)
Sean Newcomb (RP, Age: 29, LHP)
Sergio Romo (RP, Age: 40, RHP)
Austin Wynns (C, Age: 32, R/R)
Stephen Piscotty (OF, Age: 32, R/R)

PAUL’S THOUGHTS:
MVP: SP Logan Webb
Breakout Player: SP Kyle Harrison
Grade: B-
Lineup Rank: 8th
Rotation Rank: 10th
Bullpen Rank: 8th

Rounding out the previews we have the Giants who saw a down year after their shocking 100 win 2021 season. All things were clicking for San Fran that year, as every piece contributed whether being a big name or not. Now, they’ve taken a veteran approach with not too many prospects on the verge of making an impact. Mitch Haniger and Michael Conforto were added, two power bats that can man the corners of the outfield. Joc Pederson was also brought back on a 1-year deal and Brandon Crawford and Mike Yastrzemski will both look to bounce back after down years.

The pitching is solid, not great, but solid. Logan Webb is a dominant ace and veteran Sean Manaea was added to take Carlos Rodon’s spot in the rotation, an assignment that will be hard to live up to. DeSclafani, Wood, and Cobb all return as veterans in the rotation that will look to be more consistent throughout 2023. Camilo Doval is one of the best young relievers in the game, and he should see a whole season as being the primary closer. The Rogers brothers were reunited when they signed Taylor this offseason to be the set up man. Jakob Junis, Ross Stripling, and John Brebbia are all guys who should see a mix of bullpen appearances and starts throughout the year, bringing solid depth to the rotation. It’ll be tough to compete with the Dodgers and Padres in their division and even the Diamondbacks who are looking young and dominant. I don’t anticipate it being a big year for the Giants but they shocked me in 2021 so maybe they’ll do it again.