2007 Team by Team Preview - Nads

Nads

Starting Pitching:
Webb, Arroyo, Rogers, Millwood - nice rotation

Bullpen:
Ro.Hernandez, Donnelly, Wise, T.Jones, Dempster - some very handy guys to have in the pen; pitching is definitely a strength for this team

Catcher:
Pierzynski - playable vs rhp; pretty bad vs lhp

Infield:
Ad.Gonzalez (1b-1) - excellent card and balanced
Jacobs (1b-4) - also playable vs rhp; horrible vs lhp
Tracy (1b/3b-4) - pretty good vs rhp; terrible vs lhp
L.Castillo (2b-2) - again... very good vs rhp; pretty bad vs lhp
Glaus (3b-4, ss-5) - finally, a player who is excellent vs lhp (1.048 OPS); unfortunately, he is well below average vs rhp
Eckstein (ss-3) - no power or speed, but balanced with decent OB
Izturis (ss-2, 2b/3b-3) - 192 AB of bad offense
L.Gonzalez- the Colo. guy, not the Ariz. Guy (2b/3b-3, 1b/lf/rf-4) - OB vs lhp: .235; OB vs rhp: 279; luckily he only has 149 at bats

Outfield:
Burrell (lf-4) - best hitter on the team; good on both sides; especially good vs lhp; will lose a lot of hits in the clutch
Crisp (cf-4) - good speed but not a good card
Drew (rf-2) - very good hitter vs rhp; well below average vs lhp

Designated Hitter:
Mi.Sweeney - didn't play in the field last year; only 217 AB; balanced but not great; Burrell or Jacobs might end up here.

Uncarded Guys:
Felix Pie - #1 rated prospect in the Cubs' system.

Draft Status:
Picks first in each round. Has all his own picks plus an extra 8th.

Outlook:
The outlook isn't brilliant. The pitching is good, but there isn't much offense and the defense might even be worse. Luckily for the Nads, they are in an excellent position in the Draft and should be able to get lots of help thru their picks. And really, with that staff, Gonzalez, Castillo, Drew, Burrell, and Pierzynski... it could be worse.

Thanks to everybody who had nice things to say about these previews. They were fun to do. Stay tuned for more strat notes while we wait on the cards.