NL Central Notebook: Divisional offensive outlook for 1999

Bench/Alternatives: SS Jeff Blauser .268, C/UT Tyler Houston .252

When everything broke the Cubs’ way in 1998, they still wound up with only
the third-best offense in the division. Now that spring’s coming and we can
call a pumpkin a pumpkin again, there are reasons to believe that this
offense will be hard-pressed to remain third-best. First off, the 1999
Cubs are old enough to push the current Orioles or the early-80s Angels
for all-time historic oldness. The lineup will have serious on-base
problems, and Lance Johnson is nobody’s good idea of a good leadoff
man. Brave talk in Chicago has the Cubs excited about having Gaetti
and Santiago for the season (not to mention some bragging about how
this year’s Cubs lineup could set a team record for homeruns, topping
last season’s mark of 212). Talk’s cheap, even in this golden Age of
Consultants. Home run rates are probably going may continue to drop
in the NL (don’t laugh, but rates in 1998 were a decline from where
they were in the mid-90s), so put me in the camp of people who don’t
see Sammy thwacking 60 or more this year.

Projected offensive rank in NL Central: third

Bench/Alternatives: OFs Jon Nunnally .276, Mike Tucker .275,
Jeffrey Hammonds .269, 2B/3B Mark Lewis .243,
2B Ralph Milliard .255, UT Chris Stynes .260

The building blocks of a very potent offense are in place, and the
Reds should score more runs, perhaps finishing as the second- or
third-best offense in the division. Much will depend on Jack McKeon‘s
selections in the outfield and who he gives jobs to at second and third. If
he chooses the best baseball player for the job in center (Cameron) and the
best offensive player for the job in right (Young), he’ll have made the
biggest potential positive impact on the team. If he diddles around, like
he did last year with Nunnally, or worse yet, if he lets Pokey Reese play
every day, he’ll have undone much of that good. A lot will depend not on
where anyone bats, but who bats, and how regularly. They could help
themselves considerably if they find a good third baseman, or if
Jim Bowden scores a solid leadoff man on the trade market should
Cameron not shake off miserable 1998.

Projected offensive rank in NL Central: fourth, but if they’re
contending July, they’ll pass the Cubs

Bench/Alternatives: C Tony Eusebio .239, LF Lance Berkman .313,
LF Daryle Ward .298, INF Bill Spiers .288

Although you might think the Astros are in bad shape after losing
Moises Alou, Sean Berry, and Brad Ausmus, they
aren’t. Coming off a year when the Astros were the NL’s best offense,
things are very fragile, in that the Astros have the opportunity to
repeat as the league’s best offense, but there are also several things
that could go wrong. An outfield combo of Everett, Bell, and Hidalgo isn’t
as strong as you want, but the Astros have two excellent young hitters in
Berkman and Ward, either of whom could step in and take over left field.
Admittedly, Ken Caminiti is looking fragile, but few teams have reserves
as capable as Spiers or Russ Johnson available should he go down.
Mitch Meluskey could end up being the fourth-best offensive catcher in the
league (behind Piazza, Javy Lopez, and Kendall), or he could struggle,
leaving the Astros with an adequate platoon of Tony Eusebio and
Paul Bako. But I’m on the bandwagon of believers that if there’s
an organization that can change gears and take best advantage of available
talent, it’s the Astros. They can try whatever works while banking on
continuing greatness from Biggio and Bagwell.

Projected offensive rank in NL Central: first (possibly without even adjusting for the ballpark)

Bench/Alternatives: INF Mark Loretta .280, 2B Ronnie Belliard
.272, 1B Kevin Barker .262, OF Rich Becker .265, OF Scott
Krause .275

Even with the expectation that Marquis Grissom is going to bounce back
slightly from his godawful 1998, and even with Sean Berry’s bat replacing
Mike Matheny‘s now that Nilsson is being moved back behind the
plate, this is still a weak offensive team. Fernando Vina isn’t a good
bet to maintain his newfound status as a solid leadoff hitter, which
creates problems for the rest of a weak lineup. Take note that they
could easily replace their expected keytstone combo of Vina and Valentin
with an upgrade of Belliard and Loretta. If there’s a team that needs
to remind itself of its recent history (remembering where Jeromy Burnitz
came from), and trading either Vina or Valentin or both for the best
available young hitter to plug into left field, it’s the Brewers. Sean
Berry should be a solid fill-in until Kevin Barker comes of age. The
Brewers will probably score about as many runs as they did in 1998,
with their only consolation coming from the knowledge that’s easily
more than the Pirates.

Projected offensive rank in NL Central: fifth

Bench/Alternatives: 2B Warren Morris .255, 3B Aramis Ramirez
.269, 3B Freddy Garcia .255, SS Abraham Nunez .216, OF
Chad Hermansen .278, 1B Ron Wright .262

You wouldn’t have thought it would be easy for an organization to take the
league’s worst offense and find a way to make it worse, but miraculously
enough, the Pirates have done it. If they stick with this infield, they’ll
have a hard time scoring 600 runs. They’ll almost certainly be the worst
Pirates offense since the Slammin’ Sammy Khalifa Pirates of 1985.
Hell, the unlamented departure of the mostly harmless Tony Womack
actually cost them their best-hitting middle infielder with any major
league experience, although Warren Morris would be an improvement. A
palace coup by the minor leaguers would put a significantly better team
on the field, but the Bucs must be angling to get the Pennsylvania state
legislature to rescind public funding for a new stadium, because this
lineup has the talent to easily rack up 100+ losses.

Projected offensive rank in NL Central: sixth. Last in the majors.
Potential for historically significant badness. Able to play games in a
half-hour, if the other team didn’t have to bat. The team every pitcher
should ask to get his rehab work against.

Bench/Alternatives: 2B Pat Kelly .266, INF David Howard
.213, INF Adam Kennedy .249, SS Brent Butler .266

Although there’s really only one fight for a regular job (second), there
are more question marks than you’d think. Will Drew really be this good
this fast? Will McGwire poke sixty or more again? Will the real Fernando
Tatis please stand up? Will Eric Davis be able to play 130 games? Will
the manager check his ego at the door and stop goofing off with the pitcher
in the eighth slot? The Cardinals should figure out that Baerga is done,
but it may take them 30 games. The potential disaster is if Tony LaRussa
honors a past promise and hands the job over to David Howard. Howard’s
greatest claim to fame is going to be that he did not play for the 1999
Pirates, despite all of the requisite banjo-hitting skills. Even with
problems at second (easily resolved with any of the alternatives to Howard
and Baerga listed above), the offense will hardly be the problem as long
as Lankford and Davis can stay healthy. If the Cards have to count on
Darren Bragg or the mummified remains of Willie McGee if
either of Lankford or Davis miss as much as a month or more at a time,
then they’ll have major offensive problems. I think McGwire’s got as
reasonable a shot as anybody historically could at topping sixty again,
but it’d be a bit much to expect a run at his own record. And yes, Drew
really is the real deal.

Projected offensive rank in NL Central: second, with a good shot
at scoring more runs than the Astros