NL North Season 2 Preview

The NL North provided us with a lot of drama last season, providing us with 2 playoff teams in Montreal and Cincinnati. Fargo made a surprise run at the end and were in playoff contention until the last weekend of the season. Can they get all three teams in this season? Will the Chicago Cubs make any noise this year?

Toronto Toros (97-65 as the Montreal Maroons last season)

Major Additions: None
Major Losses: SS/CF Eli Jacquez (FA- Toledo), 2B Peter Suzuki (trade- Toledo)

Offense(last season: T-4 in NL) : The Toronto offense begins at the top with what was a great 1-2 combination in LF Rico Valdez (.416 OBP, 102 SB last year) and 1B Thomas Keisler (.297-9-80, 62 SB). Keeping those two off the basepaths will be the key for any opposing pitcher. The rest of the offense isn't quite as deep as it was before Jacquez left, but Toronto still returns 3B Vicente Romero, (.321-57-155) who put up MVP type numbers fairly quietly and RF Emil James (.273-41-111) to drive them in. C Willis Taylor chipped in with 78 RBIs last year, but there are some question marks in the lineup. Rookie 2B Oswaldo Armas showed Toronto management enough to deal Suzuki to Toledo, but hasn't proven anything over a full season. SS Dewey Greenwood was out for much of the season with a herniated disk- if he stays healthy I think he'll be solid. CF Orlando Diaz struggled defensively in CF in both AAA and the majors and his bat could be a question as well.

Pitching(last season: 5th in NL): The starting rotation doesn't have a big-time star, but has several solid ML quality starters. The plan last season was to let the starters go deep in games even if they gave up a few runs and outscore everyone. Harry Lee led the staff last year at 17-7 with a 3.44 ERA. Alex Valdez won 14 games with an ERA under 4. Shooter Mahoney won 20 games with an ERA of 4.43. Pat Clifton and Andres Cedeno both pitched over 200 innings with ERAs between 4 and 4.50. In the bullpen, Jackson Hayes saved 39 out of 41 but will miss the first 3 weeks or so of the regular season- Daryl McKinley steps into the role for now. When Hayes comes back, the back of the pen is solid with McKinley and Tony Howell setting up Hayes.
Outlook: They return most of the team that won 97 games, so it's going to be hard to pick against them. Their core is young enough, but will they score as many runs as they did last year? I don't think so, but they'll definitely be in the mix for the division title.


Cincinnati Dragons (90-72 last year)

Major Additions: None
Major Losses: RP Willie Nunez (FA-San Juan)

Offense(last season: 13th in NL): They could very well struggle again. The bright spots are 2B Reid Colbert (.291-33-109), SS Paul Lamb (.301-21-82), C David Pineda (.305-15-96)-and CF Jack Wilkerson (.310-37-85). The Dragons need much more production from the likes of Richard Little, Harry Diaz, and Don Meng to get this offense back up to at least the league average.

Pitching (last season: 8th in NL): They still have a lights-out 1-2 combination of Bernard Robinson (20-10, 3.43) and Manny Christians (12-10, 3.02) in the rotation, which gives them a chance. Victor Aybar won 14 games last season, but I'm not sold on Howard Munoz and/or Donaldo Sierra at the back of the rotation. 18-year-old Turner Darr should have been at the lower minor levels developing but instead was getting shelled at the AAA and major leagues last year. Willy Mo Owens is a nice closer but need one or more of the setup guys (Melvin Won, Jamey Dwyer, Christian Price) to step up.

Outlook: Hard to think that a team with a payroll of almost $125 million could miss the playoffs, but I could see it happening. They could sneak in as the 6 seed but I don't see it. Of course, I've been very wrong about this team before.


Fargo Dirtbags (87-75 last season)

Key Additions: SP Max Knowles(trade- Vancouver), SS Scot Hutton (trade-Colorado Springs), C Marvin Broadhurst (FA-Atlanta)
Key Losses: None

Offense (last season: last in NL): Even with the addition of Hutton they are going to struggle, although maybe not as much as they did last year. Their key hitters all come with an "if" attached. For instance, Hutton (.295-28-124) would be great if he didn't strike out 157 times. CF Stan Peterson and 2B Quentin Harper would be good leadoff or #2 hitters if he got on base more. SS Kurt Christianson will be a good middle of the order guy if he retrieves his bat from Baltimore- he left it there after being traded (.350-16-58 in 138 games in Baltimore, .196-0-4 in 14 games in Fargo). They have guys who can run, but they don't drive in runs and strike out too much.

Pitching (last season: best in NL): This is why Fargo fans are excited- the future is now. Stud SPs Javier Henriquez and Sammy Pierce, rated #1 and #2 in the top 100 prospects last year respectively, both pitched well in their half seasons of ML ball. The only thing better than having two ace starters is having two young ace starters and Henriquez (22) and Pierce (24) fir the bill. Willy Williams is another young starter who, while not of the caliber of the first two, should fill into the middle of the rotation nicely. Tyler Wilson would have won more than 13 games on a team with any offense. Knowles will be a veteran presence at the back of the rotation and will give innings, although he went 6-10 in Vancouver last year. In the bullpen, Bert Price is a good closer and the tandem of Chris Siddall and Kevin Li were lights out in setting Price up last year. The staff could actually be better than last season.

Outlook: If they score any runs whatsoever, they can make the playoffs. I'm not sure if I see them catching Toronto, but they'll be in the hunt for the wild card spots. This is a team I could definitely see making a trade later in the season for another bat.


Chicago Cubs (50-112 last season)

Major additions: SP Stephen Tucker (trade- Las Vegas), SP Miguel Benitez (trade- New York), SP York Watson (trade- Monterrey)
Major Losses: None

Offense: (last season: 12th in NL): The bulk of Chicago's big hitters from last season were traded in an effort to build the franchise from the bottom up. Catcher Grady Smart (.255-20-100) and RF Flip Chapman (.279-65-143) return, but outside of those two it's going to be up to the young players out of the Chicago farm system. 2B Sean Simpson headlines the kiddie corps, but the question is can he handle ML pitching at age 20. He should develop into a very good ML player eventually, at any rate. LF Trever Russell and CF William Farr are two other players who began the year at A ball and finished in Chicago. It's obvious that Chicago wants to take some steps forward this year but are they stunting the growth of these potentially big-time prospects to try and win a little more now?

Pitching (last season: 15th in NL) One word here: overhaul. Stephen Tucker(18-5, 2.89 ERA for Las Vegas) is a bonafide #1 starter, Watson (14-8, 4.15) becomes the #2 pitcher, and Benitez (17-9, 4.65 ERA with NY) slides into the 3 or 4 spot. Rob Rehfield won 15 games for a terrible team last year and is a solid #3 or 4 option. Jorge Guzman and Brandon Harvey inject some youth into the staff, although Guzman struggled after being called up and I'm not sold on Harvey at all. The fate of the bullpen is going to rest on three 23-year-old pitchers: closer Ted Reese and setup guys Graham Rivera and Luis Piedra. Rivera and Piedra both had troubles last year when called up to the big leagues but both have talent.

Outlook: They'll win more than 52 games this year. I like the Tucker deal but I think Watson and Benitez might have benefited from having good teams behind him- I'm not sure they'll combine for 31 wins again. I see their win total climbing to anywhere from about 65-75 this season easily. Best case scenario is their young hitters surprise a little, in which case they could threaten .500. Problem is, last season no team made the NL playoffs with less than 90 wins and I just can't fathom them making that big a leap.