Five Players To Watch This Season

Spring Training is a week old and the players have all reported to their respective parks in Arizona and Florida. The familiar faces are back, looking to improve upon last season - even the San Francisco Giants who have to face a lot of adversity being the defending champs. But the eyes of the fan bases are always on the new comers, especially if they are big free agent splashes.

There were a lot of splashes today as well. The Yankees, Red Sox and Phillies all made significant upgrades and the Rays took their chances on some older players. I’m going to go into a look and see what five players will be put under the microscope and be under significant pressure to perform.

Carl Crawford - Boston Red Sox: Crawford may have the biggest impact on any team this season. As the biggest free agent on the market this past off season, Crawford’s move from Tampa Bay to Boston was a huge blow to the Rays. Put aside the fact they also added Adrien Gonzalez at first, what the Sox added was a top-of-the-line up bat to give them a 1-2 punch in Crawford and Dustin Pedroia.

Crawford has been one of the best fielders in the baseball during his career and has also provided a much needed spark on the base paths, leading the league in steals and triples four times each.

Ultimately, adding Crawford and A-Gon made the Red Sox the team to beat in the American League. Anything short of a World Series appearance will be a huge let-down to the fans in New England.

Cliff Lee - Philadelphia Phillies: The Phillies lost Jayson Werth in the off season, leaving a big hole. Instead of filling the void on offense, the Phils took the money they could have spent on Werth or another outfielder and threw it at Lee, creating a super rotation that is the envy of the league.

Lee is a former Cy Young winner and he brought the Phillies and Rangers to World Series’ in 2009 and 2010 respectively. After losing both, Lee will hope to help the Phils back to the top of baseball and get him his first ring.

Manny Ramirez - Tampa Bay Rays: After seeing a special on ESPN, Man-Ram is looking to get himself back in top shape and be the dominant right-handed bat he once was in Boston and for some time in LA. Ramirez is back in the AL East where he had dominated in his entire career.

The pressure will be on Ramirez and the Rays to make up for all the talent that was unloaded this past off season. Also matched up with former teammate Johnny Damon, the Tigers may have gotten themselves a serious bargain with the two former Sox.

Rafael Soriano - New York Yankees: Many see this as the Yankees making a move just to make one. But it really wasn’t and for those who understand why the Yankees made this move, it could be a crucial one for years to come.

Soriano was one of the game’s best closers last season in Tampa. And by stealing him from a division rival, the Yankees made their already strong bull pen that much better while weakening the Rays pitching, something they prided themselves with the past couple years.

What the Yankees also gain is having probably the most dangerous 8/9th inning combo in Major League Baseball. Mariano Rivera is the game’s best closer and now Soriano can become the game’s best set-up man. And with Rivera getting older, I think the Yankees hope Soriano will be the next franchise closer.

This will be a move that will be watched far longer than this season. You can count on that.

Jayson Werth - Washington Nationals: The difference between Werth and the previous four is that he is actually playing this season for himself in a way. The Nationals aren’t ready to be a serious competitor in the NL East with the strength of the Phillies and Braves.

What Werth will be under pressure for is playing to the value of his contract. He’s expected to make $24 million this season and despite never hitting 100 RBIs in his career and being 31, there are a lot of doubts that he will play to his contract.

Nats fans are certainly excited to have him in Washington. But if he turns out to be all smoke and mirrors, the Nation’s Capital will be calling for his resignation.

John Russo
The D League Show
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John also writes and operates, "Team To Beat"