Season Preview: The Situation Room

No doubt my esteemed co-author intends for his team name to refer to Jersey Shore cast member and GTL all-star The Situation (though given The Situation’s apparent batting average of about .004, query whether it’s wise to invoke him here).

For me, however, the phrase “the situation” serves not as a reference to a greasy orange man, but as cue to launch into the appropriate verse of “It Takes Two” by Rob Base ("The situation/that the Base is in…") Accordingly, I will use the Rev. Dr. Base’s timeless lyrics as the launching point for the analysis of Ang’s squad.
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Infield

I stand alone don’t need anyone/Cuz I’m Rob, just came to have fun

While it might seem simplistic to characterize this part of the roster as just Albert Pujols and a bunch of guys...this part of the roster is just Albert Pujols and a bunch of guys. Poor Kelly Johnson has been libeled enough around here, so I won’t pile on; Wily Aybar is an Aybar, with all that implies; and Gordon Beckham, though promising, scares me given the recent performance of highly touted 3B prospects (remember Andy LaRoche? Andy Marte? Edwin Encarnacion? Alex Gordon? Yeah.)

I actually like Ryan Doumit as a sneaky good C, though with his injury history, expect to see Dionner Navarro on board at some point.

Outfield
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I’m not internationally known/But I’m known to rock the microphone

Youth is served in the OF, with potential five-category monsters Matt Kemp, Justin Upton, and Jay Bruce on hand, along with power specialist Kyle Blanks and speedster Michael Bourn. Those five guys should create a rotation that will carry the team through most of the year, and even gives them a little cushion to deal for IF help down the road. Excellent group.

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Rotation
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It takes two to make a thing go right/It takes two to make it out of sight

Felix Hernandez and Jon Lester give this team two durable, high-K guys atop the order. And as a bonus, both should play on pretty good teams this year, meaning they should rack up W's as well.

After that, things get a touch lottery ticket-y for my taste. Rick Porcello had a great ’09, but threw a bunch of innings and outperformed his peripherals. David Price didn’t quite show his ’08 postseason form in ’09. Scott Baker and Jason Hammel are fine, but feel more like fantasy # 5 guys then anything else. And Ross Ohlendorf is (presumably) still Ross Ohlendorf. So there’s a very solid foundation here, but the sitch is going to have to either get lucky or go out and trade for some certainty in order to get his rotation all the way there.

Bullpen

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Don't cheer me, just hear me out

I bow to no one in my admiration of Dan Bard. I’ll even go so far as to say that he’ll get s sneaky big number of vulture wins this year operating as the fireman out of the Boston ‘pen. But he’s not a closer. Ditto for Joba “I’m so ugly I gave my Dad polio” Chamberlain.

I do, however, bow to any number of people in my admiration of Tyler Clippard. I’ll even go so far as to say that he will get almost NO wins operating as the fireman for a calamitous NatsTown squad. And that’s it. That’s the whole ‘pen.

Now, as promised, although I won’t cheer my co-author, I will hear him out. Saves do come into the league, and he should be able to buy saves late if he thinks he has a shot at the board. But starting from a dead stop is tough.

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Outlook
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Don't need friends that act like foes

True enough. So I’ll stop here.