Los Angeles Dodgers: Get help for the starting rotation
It was never going to be easy for the Dodgers to fill the Zack
Greinke-sized hole in their rotation. It got harder this spring, as
Brett Anderson suffered a back injury that will sideline him for most of
the first half and Scott Kazmir showed up missing 4 mph off his
fastball. L.A. will start the year with a patchwork group behind Clayton
Kershaw, but that's all right. To win, the team just needs to stabilize
their rotation for the second half. Anderson, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Brandon
McCarthy should all be healthy by then. Prospects Julio Urias and Jose
De Leon will be pressing for rotation slots later in the season. This is
the Dodgers, so you know they'll be in the market to make trades in
July to bolster the staff—Tyson Ross, Julio Teheran and even pending
free agent Stephen Strasburg could be available. L.A. can muddle through
three months figuring out their pitching so long as they spend the
final three months riding it.
San Diego Padres: Comebacks around the roster
After being the It Team of the 2014 off-season, the Padres crashed
hard, going 74–88 and getting manager Bud Black fired. Perhaps
chastened, GM A.J. Preller was relatively passive this winter, dealing
closer Craig Kimbrel and staying away from the big-ticket acquisitions
of Preller's first go-round. So for the Padres to win, they're going to
have to lead the league in Comeback Player of the Year candidates. Wil
Myers has to stay healthy, take to a new position (first base) and
return to his '13 Rookie of the Year form. Jon Jay has to bounce back
from a lost season—a .210 average in 79 games—to his usual .290 level.
James Shields, Andrew Cashner and Fernando Rodney all have to pitch
closer to their career norms than to last season's efforts. For a
rebuilding team, the Padres have a lot of expensive veterans on the back
end of their primes. Most of them will have to surprise for the Friars
to move past their disappointing '15.
San Francisco Giants: Keep Denard Span on the field
The Giants' decision to sign centerfielder Denard Span to a
three-year deal pulls together two interesting stats from 2015. The
Nationals, Span's old team, were 36–25 when he started and 47–54 when he
didn't. San Francisco, with its own injury issues in center, were 66–57
when Angel Pagan started, 18–21 when he didn't. For the Giants to end
their long World Series drought, they'll have to keep Span on the field.
He missed four months last year with back and hip problems, culminating
in season-ending surgery in August. With a career .352 OBP and a 79%
success rate stealing bases, he's one of the few true leadoff hitters in
today's game. That makes him the missing piece in a San Francisco
offense that was already as good as any NL team's from 2 through 8. When
healthy, Span has been a good defensive player, and he's certainly an
upgrade on the 34-year-old version of Pagan, who will switch to left in
'16.
Complete list (SI.com)
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