REVIEW BY BRAD ARBIGE

OVERVIEW:
2007 Record 122-85-13
Standings: Champion (1st seed)

You cannot ask for much more than the Ambulance Chasers' performance last season as they held on to one of the top seeds virtually all season. The Ambulance Chasers were led by the top pitching staff and a slightly above average offense. Virtually the whole team will be returning with many young cost controlled hitters forming the offensive nucleus around the hitting monster David Ortiz and the Chaser's veteran pitching staff. Barring injuries there should be no reason for the Chasers to not be back in the playoff hunt battling for their 2nd championship in as many years.


PROJECTED LINEUP:
C Suzuki
1B Ortiz
2B Pedroia
3B Youkilis
SS O. Cabrera
OF Granderson
OF Young
OF Ellsbury
DH

SP Beckett
SP Lackey
SP Vazquez
SP Bonderman
SP Milwood

RP
RP

BN A.Cabrera

Overage from 2007: 7.34

This team would have a payroll of 91 million.




NEEDS:
-DH. Easiest position to fill, should not be a problem with the amount of money the Chasers have to spend.
-RP. The Chasers traded away an allstar closer this year to fill their 3B gap leaving them barren at that position. If the Chasers do not go overboard and spend all their money on a DH/Bench they should have plenty of coin to purchase one or two closers. Even if they fail in the auction the Chasers' owner is known to be slightly (extremely) obsessive and will scour the waiver wire until he fills this hole. Since RP is one of the most volatile positions this is not a horrible strategy.


STRENGTHS:
-Pitching. One of the top three pitching staffs in the league to start the season.
-Ortiz. The man is a monster!
-Speed. Ellsbury, Granderson, The Cabreras, Young are all above average to excellent base stealers.
-Runs. Many top of the order hitters + speed = many runs scored.
-Youth. Very few if any players look to be in their decline phase.
-Money. Over 40 million to spend and the starting lineup is virtually set.


WEAKNESSES:
-HRs. Some projections claim for this team to be an above average HR hitting team, while others believe there are only two hitters in the starting lineup capable of hitting 20+ unless some of the younger players increase their power. This should be easily filled by using the DH spot to obtain a power hitter and the Chasers have the money to spend. If the other teams in the league can prevent this, all would benefit (hint!).[sic]
-Too many Red Sox. What happens if the Red Sox have a bad season, or if they have too good of a season and start resting many starters during the fantasy playoff season. 4 of the 9 starting hitters and 1 SP are all Red Sox. Usually it is a bad strategy to have all your eggs in one basket but out of all the baskets to choose that is one of the best.




PREDICTION:
Easily making the playoffs and should be one of the top seeds. A good bet would be for this team to finish between 1-3rd.


FARM SYSTEM:
The Chasers' did very well producing ML talent in the first draft. Suzuki, Pedroia, and A. Cabrera are the transition players and although none project to be elite talent they are all ML regulars and will produce solid numbers for many cost controlled years. The highest rated prospect is the Chasers' 1st pick Jacoby Ellsbury who should be patrolling Fenway's CF and starting this year. He is a high average, run, and SB player right now. If he just increases his power he will be an elite 5 tool player. The 2nd pick Hocheaver has struggled slightly but will have an easy pass to the majors thanks to a below average KC team. The Chasers do not have many more players since some were used in the trade for OC while others were traded to the NL but they have secured 9 draft picks. Out of the leftover players the only two that jump out is 1B Lars Anderson and P Fautino De Los Santos. Anderson is a top 100 prospect but many differ on his future power projections. He is young for his level and his performance in AA will go a long way in deciding his future. De Los Santos was sent to Oak as part of the Swisher deal, he was the Chaser's 15th round pick and exploded on to the scene in single A last year. Since Oakland does not have anything that looks like a starting rotation Fautino could get his shot sooner than later. Also that park only benefits any pitcher who plays there.

REVIEW BY BRAD ARBIGE


GRADES:(By Al Skorupa)

OFFENSE: B-
PITCHING: A
FARM SYSTEM: B+
OVERALL: B+

PREDICTED FINISH: 3rd