Jackalope first baseman Paul Goldschmidt
The DTBL season ended more than a month ago, so now seems like the perfect time to finish part 3 of my 2013 season review. The first part was a recap of the Kings’ championship season. Part two covered the other teams who were title contenders through most of the season. Finally, we have the other six teams who were never really in the race. This isn’t to say that 2013 was a terrible year for all of them, just that there was a fairly noticeable gap between the top four and these six most of the year. While a few of these teams were surely disappointed in how their season went, none of them were truly awful. The Jackalope finished in last place, but their 35.5 points was the second highest total for a last place team in league history. So, while none of these teams were particularly close to competing for the title this season, it is also fair to say that none of them need major reconstruction to be right in the thick of the race next year.
Of these six squads, the team that is probably most satisfied with their 2013 season is the Cougars. They finished in fifth place, making this the first time they have finished in the top half of the league since 2004. A much improved offense complemented an already strong pitching staff. The main reason for the offensive surge was Chris Davis. The second round steal led the league in home runs (53) and RBI (138). He figures to get strong consideration in the upcoming MVP vote. Madison Bumgarner and Adam Wainwright helped the Cougars finish second in ERA.
Another team that made great strides this year would be the Darkhorses. As many assumed they would, they managed to bounce back from the 2012 season from hell when everything that could possibly have gone wrong did. Luck still wasn’t completely on their side as they had to fight through a bunch of key injuries, especially early. But finishing sixth a year after coming in last is obviously a big step in the right direction. They more than doubled their ’12 point total as well. Bryce Harper had a nice rookie year for the Darkhorses, but they expect even bigger things from him next year. Keeping Hanley Ramirez healthy for an entire season will be key as well. On the pitching side of things, it is still a bit of a work in progress, but Matt Moore and Mike Minor had solid years.
Following two teams who made big improvements this year was a team that went in the opposite direction. The Moonshiners finished in fourth place a year ago, but were just a 1.5 points away from winning their first title. Obviously, they had hoped to compete for the title again this year, but it wasn’t to be. They finished in a disappointing seventh place. Other than the surprising A.J. Burnett, all of the Moonshiners pitchers failed to meet expectations. Well, Jered Weaver was pretty good too, but didn’t put up the kind of numbers they needed from a staff ace. On offense, the roster actually looks pretty good, but they lacked any one player having an especially huge season. This is really a hard team to diagnose. They don’t look like a seventh place team. But they are lacking that star player to take them to the next level.
The Demigods took a small step backwards this season, dropping one spot to eighth place. Their weakness is obvious: pitching. They finished with just eight pitching points, the lowest total in the league. This was a surprising result considering their first round pick, Yu Darvish, turned out to be one of the best pitchers in the league. But the rest of the rotation was a mess and they finished the season without a closer on the roster. The amazing thing about the Demigods is that they finished in eighth despite having the second most batting points in the league. They got solid years out of almost all of their offensive players, led by newcomer Carlos Gomez and veterans Evan Longoria and David Ortiz. If they can just figure out their pitching problems, they are not far from being a contender.
I’m not sure anyone is ever pleased about finishing in ninth place, but the Gators were really a much improved team over their ’12 squad which also finished ninth. Through the draft and trades, they were able to significantly improve their weak offense and have plenty of good, young talent moving forward. Second overall draft pick Yoenis Cespedes suffered through a bit of a MLB sophomore slump, but still put up strong fantasy numbers. But the real steals for the Gators were a pair of shortstops: Jean Segura (8th round) and Andrelton Simmons (4th round). Their in-season trade to acquire Starling Marte is looking pretty solid too. The Gators pitching staff, previously their strength, was a bit of a disappointment though. Staff ace C.C. Sabathia had one of the worst seasons of his career. If they can get him to bounce back next year, this will be a very dangerous team.
Finally, we have the Jackalope. To be blunt, this season was a train wreck for them. Just two years removed from a league championship and a year after being in the title race until the last day of the season, the Jackalope hit rock bottom this year, finishing dead last. The offense was atrocious and the pitching staff, the league’s best the previous three years, was largely disappointing as well. It’s not too hard to figure out why their offense struggled so much. They were without their two best players for a good portion of the season. Ryan Braun fought through injuries before finally serving his PED suspension. And Albert Pujols was simply not himself at any point this season, eventually causing him to miss the last couple months of the year. The Jackalope finished a distant last place in batting points, despite getting a breakout season from Paul Goldschmidt. He was pretty much the lone bright spot though. Just like the Darkhorses a year ago, it is hard to imagine this team staying down at the bottom very long though. They have way too much talent for that. Plus, they are going to have the first pick in an absolutely loaded draft next spring….
… Which leads me to my final thought. All six of these teams are going to be able to add potential superstars with their first round picks next year. I’m not going to name names, but look no further than the top MLB Rookie of the Year contenders to get an idea of what kind of talent is coming. If those picks pan out, I won’t be writing about these teams in the “non-contenders” recap next year.
Congrats to the Red Sox on their World Series title. With that, the off-season is officially upon us. The 2013 DTBL Awards ballot will be posted in the next couple of days with announcements of the winners coming over the next few weeks.