Adventures in Massive Gaping Holes

 

Once again this year, some of the biggest division battles will be fought in the East. In the AL East, the Orioles and Red Sox will both be trying to dethrone the Yankees at the top, while in the NL East, the Phillies and Mets will be battling it out against the Braves. The key is tracking progression. The Phillies didn't do much this offseason and are getting older, while the Mets did everything and have so many young stars taking over. The Red Sox went all in on a rebuild, and the O's still have young guys ready to go. 

So it helps, in order to keep up, to not have massive vacancies in comparison to previous years. Injury-related or not. And so while they haven't been downgraded completely, this might be a tougher year for both the Yankees and the Braves. Even if one of the Braves' big vacancies is kinda the Yanks' fault.

The Yankees made a World Series last year. They talk about it a lot. But two of the reasons why they made it there, Gerrit Cole and Juan Soto, will not be playing for the Yankees this year. Cole is injured, Soto's in Queens. And Giancarlo Stanton, additionally, will be out for a while. And so this team has to convince the league it's still a force even if they proved last year that Soto was one of the few people actually improving things last fall. Getting Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt and Devin Williams does help. Bellinger's been amazing in camp, Williams is a surefire closer, Goldy is steady and also leaves the door open for Rice at some point. But the values have shifted. It's no longer 'Judge and Soto at everyone's throats', it's a little more spread out. I think this could work, ultimately, but the whole team needs to step up if it wants to get anywhere close to where they got last year.

And the biggest factor is going to be the rotation. Carlos Rodon and Max Fried have both been quoted in saying they'll step up in Cole's absence, and I believe them. Rodon is a fantastic big game pitcher who's thrived in the 2 spot in New York and has been ramping up for another excellent year. Fried thrived at the top of the rotation in Atlanta but was also used better behind bigger names. I think he can ultimately be an ace-type for us, especially if he continues his excellent run, but it's gonna be a matter of if the specter of Cole, and Cortes, chases us. Beyond those two, there's Schmidt, who's hurt, Gil, who's probably missing some time, and Stroman, who's still not a fit for Yankee Stadium. And beyond them, you may have to go with Will Warren or potentially Clayton Beeter. It could all fall into place but there's some worrying details.

The Braves, meanwhile, are without Fried, they've lost Charlie Morton and Travis d'Arnaud in free agency, they're still without Ronald Acuna, and they may be without Jurickson Profar and Sean Murphy for a bit. You look around and despite the presence of Riley, Albies, Sale and Ozuna on this team, you're seeing a drop-off. The outfield going into the season will be Michael Harris, Bryan de la Cruz and Jarred Kelenic. Harris is the one I'm not worried about, he's still a very trustworthy outfield bat with a lot of perks. But Kelenic still hasn't had the overpowering season prospectors raved about, and de la Cruz was brought on to essentially back up Profar. The Pirates expected a lot from de la Cruz at the deadline, and he did not deliver. Hence feeling like a downgrade here. This could still work, but without the excellence across the board guys like Orlando Arcia are standing out more. The team is also going to have to start Drake Baldwin at catcher to open the season, which is a risk that could go either way. 

And like the Yankees, the Braves are working with a strong core at the top of the rotation, namely Chris Sale, Reynaldo Lopez and Spencer Schwellenbach. Both Sale and Lopez do not have luck on their side, and will need to work hard to continue their 2024 successes, but Schwellenbach looks like the real deal. But beyond him, there's only question marks. Ian Anderson's back from surgery it seems, but will he provide anything? Same with Spencer Strider--is he still capable of his 2022-3 dominance? And will anything come of Grant Holmes, the AAA-lifer who the Braves still haven't figured out a solid use for? I wanna say there's more definite pieces than the Yankees' rotation right now, but will all these pieces stay healthy?

Both of these teams could compete without an issue, but there's enough question marks and potential issues that people aren't completely sold. I'd love for the Yankees to repeat, but it takes a lot more coming into line than, arguably, what got them to the World Series last year.