All They Want for Christmas
Arizona Diamondbacks
Hope
Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and it appears that Phoenix is getting busy living after years of getting busy dying.
The D-Backs’ FO shouldn’t be getting too excited, there’s still a very tough road to hoe in the NL West, but there’s something brewing in the desert. Seth Beer and Geraldo Perdomo are coming off of their first taste of the big leagues. Alek Thomas had a dynamite year at AAA Reno, demonstrating a skillset that makes him pound for pound the top overall Arizona prospect. With Corbin Carroll’s returning to health and Kristian Robinson’s legal issues seemingly resolved, it appears the Diamondbacks were on the someone’s nice list.
Atlanta Braves
Repeated Success
The Braves are probably one of the few of us that wouldn't mind having 2022 mimic much of 2021. Not only would they enjoy receiving a repeat title (which hasn't occurred in 20 years!) but also seeing a repeat performance from their upper minors. Several major contributors including Game Six hero Max Fried, hometown franchise SS Dansby Swanson, and MVP candidate Austin Riley are all recent graduates of the Braves system. While he's shown the ability to swing title winning trades, Antholopolous would love if he got major league ready versions of Christian Pache or Shea Langeliers gift-wrapped under his tree.
Baltimore Orioles
Courage
#1 overall position prospect, check.
#1 overall pitching prospect, check.
#1 overall farm system (I'm dubious but okay), check.
Now's not the time to get cute, it's a time to be bold. The Baltimore brain trust needs to screw their courage to the sticking place (pretty sure that's a bar off of Pratt St). Call up Adley to start the year, assign Grayson to Norfolk and get the ball rolling towards a fielding legitimate major league team. It's easy to kick the can down the road in a rebuild, but it's much harder to commit to being competitive.
Boston Red Sox
Starting Pitching
The Red Sox don't need to be ambiguous in their wishlist. The last pitcher of note developed in Boston was Jon Lester. Safe to say it's been a while. Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello, and Jay Groome are among several burgeoning arms being shepherded by GM Chaim Bloom to make their mark at Fenway. A no fuss, no muss wishlist for the AL East Wild Card winners.
Chicago Cubs
Patience
2022 will be the first full year of the Cubs' remodeling project and like any homeowner can tell you, you have to embrace the incompleteness before you get to the final product.
It will be vital that the Cubs don't try to jump start anything to early as they have talent throughout their minors, albeit on different time frames. While Caleb Kilian and Brennan Davis look ready for primetime, others such as Kevin Alcantara, Pete Crow-Armstrong, and AFL MVP Nelson Velazquez still need some seasoning. Recent draft picks such as Owen Caissie and DJ Herz are even further down the pipeline. Hopefully the North(Side) remembers...how long they had to wait for their last championship. A few more years shouldn't hurt.
Chicago White Sox
Fresh Faces
The White Sox farm system has reared its Roberts, Kopechs, Jiminezes, and Vaughns, watching them graduate into full fledged adulthood as major leaguers. Now, like a middle aged couple having sent their youngest to college, there's a bit of empty nest syndrome settling in the South Side. Maybe top draft pick Colson Montgomery or recent J2 signing Norge Vera fill that void but it's not yet obvious. Looking at the Chicago top 30, you don't see anyone that screams "superstar" but with their collection of graduated talent, maybe it's a few years before they're breaking out caps & gowns again.
Cincinnati Reds
Raised Expectations
A team with the current NL Rookie of the Year, much-hyped fireballer Hunter Greene as well as southpaw wonder Nick Lodolo should be making more noise. There's talent in the farm but a lot of it is more "fine" than "fantastic". Matt McLain was brought in as a high floor draft picks. Austin Hendrick and Rece Hinds looked competent in their pro debuts with room for improvement. The most talked about player from last year seems to be Elly De La Cruz, who surprised many with his improved power and hit tool. The Reds should anticipate even more production in '22.
Cleveland Guardians
Answers
In searching for members of the next great Ind—I mean Guardians, team, Cleveland's found itself with a glut of middle infielders, all with some major league potential. Recent additions from new favorite trade partners in Tampa, Peyton Battenfield and Tobias Myers, bolster the pitching side for a franchise renowned for its arm development. What Cleveland needs us to determine what combination of Rocchio/Arias/Tena/Freeman will serve them in the future while watching for the next wave of top end SPs from the Cleveland Finishing School for Starters.
Colorado Rockies
Logic
Just basic common sense would be a great start for Colorado.
What good is drafting Zac Veen or signing Elehuris Montero if they're just going to wither on the vine?
Colorado has been on the naughty list of years now. You have to wonder if anything will change in '22.
Detroit Tigers
Peace on Earth and Good Will (towards Torkelson)
At this point, Detroit just want their future star to have a nice, easy beginning to, what they hope will be, a long and fruitful career. A hot start for Torkelson doesn't guarantee that the Tigers jump to the head of the pack in the AL Central but it checks one huge box in their rebuild checklist. Avoiding an Adell or Kelenic-esque arrested development to his career would go a long way in easing the minds in Motown.
Houston Astros
Maturity
Even with Correa on his way out of town, the Astros still have to feel like they're the class of the AL West & top contenders in the league, coming off yet another deep postseason run. With their championship window still open, a veteran team like Houston will look to their rookies to hit the ground running when given the opportunity (ask Yordan). Pedro Leon and/or Jeremy Peña will be getting inducted through trial by fire, with an expectation that they'll contribute immediately.
Kansas City Royals
Short Memories
2021 was not how Kansas City planned on their pipeline of young pitchers to start their major league careers. Jackson Kowar and Daniel Lynch had rough introductions to the bigs, while Jonathan Bowlan had his season cut short with Tommy John surgery in May.
Carlos Hernandez and Angel Zerpa helped to make sure the season wasn't an entire wash but overall the Royals would benefit if Santa delivers a Men in Black-like mind wipe to their young rotation, allowing them to start 2022 anew.
Los Angeles Angels
Development Magic
After FanGraphs' Eric Longenhagen posted his look at the Angels' top 40 prospects, the common refrain I saw was how bad and underdeveloped their farm system looks. Adell & Marsh have graduated while Reid Detmers is still more question than answer. There's not much to inspire confidence. Teacher says "Every time a bell rings, the Angels draft a prospect with 40+ FV..."
Los Angeles Dodgers
Focus
Look when you have a track record of successful player development as long as the Dodgers, it's easy to start to assuming you'll always crank out RoYs and MVP candidates. But a closer look in their minor leagues show a few question areas: What happened to Kody Hoese? Will Michael Busch stick at 2B? Is there a top line starter between Beeter, Pepiot, and Bobby Miller?
The Dodgers are still only two seasons removed from a championship and still a team with deep pockets, Trea Turner, & Walker Buehler can only worry but so much. However, L.A. can't afford to take their eye off the ball.
Miami Marlins
Health
Sun's out, guns out is a motto typical in South Beach but now it also applies to the Marlins' burgeoning pool of pitching talent. Unfortunately, several of them are navigating injury recovery that interrupted their 2022. Ng and co. will be asking for clean bills of health in the stockings of Sixto Sanchez, Jake Eder, and Edward Cabrera (add Cody Poteet and SS Jose Devers to that letter to North Pole as well).
Milwaukee Brewers
Staying Power
The Brewers have some of the most athletic and intriguing prospects in their system. 2021 saw Sal Frelick hit the ground running in his pro debut, Joey Wiemer knock the snot out of every pitch he saw, and Joe Gray Jr. show more consistency.
Along with Aaron Ashby and Ethan Small showing MLB readiness, there's a stealth youth movement underway. Now the Brew Crew will want those positive gains to stick around in 2022. And if the hype from the teenage triumvirate of Perez, Mendez, and Quero pays off...
Minnesota Twins
Clarity
On Larnach. On Kiriloff. On Miranda and Martin. On Rooker and Lewis. Now dash away all!
The Twins have a number of young position players that overlap each other as well as members of their existing roster. After a disappointing last place finish in the division, they'll be looking for the clearest path back to the playoffs. They might have the most interesting Spring Training (whenever that takes place) as they look to maximize their roster. As Marlo Stanfield would say, Minnesota's got one of those good problems.
New York Mets
Competence
The minor leagues seem to be one place where we haven't seen much of the circus known as "lolmets"take place (the Rocker non-signing notwithstanding). There's a really solid group of talent in the minors including AFL Fall Star Brett Baty and catcher on the rise, Francisco Álvarez. The Mets just need to not bungle it with any more unnecessary trades (they managed to turn Jarred Kelenic into an almost permanently banned Cano and a half season of Javy Baez).
New York Yankees
Full Measures
A man wiser than I, once said, "I chose a half measure, when I should have gone all the way."
I'm not saying Anthony Volpe should be called up tomorrow but it does feel like the boys in pinstripes have been taking some half measures around the infield and the back end of the rotation. Oswald Peraza is ready. Luis Gil is still tantalizing as a SP3 or 4. Even if it's not yet "Core 4" level talent available, Cashman needs to take some full measures to return the Yankees back to their dynastic ways.
Oakland Athletics
A Sense of Momentum
The A's farm system isn't bad but it's difficult to feel like it's moving in step with the needs of the major league club. A.J. Puk hasn't yet panned out due to injury, Robert Puason has taken steps backwards, and #1 ranked prospect Tyler Soderstrom is still a few years away. Oakland already received one big gift with early 'Yes' vote from Alameda County for funding the Howard Waterfront stadium. Now, they should build upon that by finding their next face of the franchise.
Philadelphia Phillies
Change
At this point, something's got to give in Philadelphia. The Scott Kingery Experience seems to be coming to an end. Alec Bohm is currently an enigma. 2016 1.1 pick Mickey Moniak will enter 2022 with 55 official MLB plate appearances. It's clear that the player development pipeline is not working in the City of Brotherly Love and Kris Kringle may be the only man that can fix it.
Pittsburgh Pirates
Opportunities
It's been a long road for the Buccos and it's not over yet. But all of the sudden, Pittsburgh has a couple of cornerstone pieces ready to take the field. Oneil Cruz and Roasny Contreras should make fascinating cases for Rookie of the Year in 2022.
Ben Cherington's front office should be sending a letter to Santa asking for even more chances for their bumper crop of talent to shine on the field.
San Diego Padres
A return to 2019
At this point, the vast majority of us would love to magically return to 2019 but the Padres have especially fond memories of the "before times".
Specifically, in 2019 MacKenzie Gore was still progressing on his way to filling his #1 draft pick potential. CJ Abrams was just starting his pro career and was injury-free. If there was a time-traveling San Diego chain when he awoke on Christmas morning, A.J. Preller would be a happy executive.
Seattle Mariners
Start of the season
All baseball fans obviously want the lockout to end as soon as possible but Seattle and its affiliates should be among the most excited to get 2022 under way. A full season from Kelenic & Gilbert, the arrival of Julio Rodriguez, along with continued development of a talented group of arms and international signings are all reasons to be chomping at the bit for a new season of baseball in the Pacific Northwest. If everything clicks, they might be able to takeover the AL West for the next decade.
San Francisco Giants
Comfort and Joy (with their new assignment)
Came across this tweet from Pitcher DIGS while he was doing his year-end summaries
Yikes! As P-DIGS (nobody actually calls him that, that's a terrible nickname) continues to point out, most of those players were young enough that it's very conceivable for them to bounce back in '22. However, it's something to keep an eye on especially with the amount of highly regarded talent in the Giants' system and their reputation for modern, forward-thinking player development.
Nothing would make for a lovelier Christmas Day in the Bay Area than being able to rest easy knowing the future of Luciano and co. will be A-OK.
St. Louis Cardinals
Heir Apparents
The Cardinals have been in playoff contention like clockwork for two decades. A major part of that success has been filling needs at the exact right moment extremely as well as internally. 2022 presents such a scenario, with the retirement of Adam Wainwright and longtime battery mate Yadier Molina joining him soon. Looking around the infield and neither Goldy nor De Jong are getting any younger as well. Nolan Gorman, Matt Liberatore, and unheralded catcher Ivan Herrera will soon find themselves with rather large shoes to fill. At least Arenado should buy St. Louis some time until Jordan Walker is expected to man the hot corner.
Tampa Bay Rays
Continuity
The more things change, the more they stay the same. The Rays continue to draft, acquire, and develop talent at every level (it's not happenstance that four of their five affiliates won championships this past season).
That Wander kid seems to have worked out pretty well so far, now Josh Lowe, Brujan, and Curtis Mead are ready to step off of the assembly line.
Tampa will seek to keep the good prospect times rolling into the new season.
Texas Rangers
Element of Surprise
Texas made it a bit harder to sneak up on the West when they signed the most expensive middle infield in the past decade.
In spite of what the parent club has done so far, I haven't seen too many people impressed by the Rangers' system itself. Ideally, the likes of Josh Jung, Justin Foscue, Cole Winn, oh yeah, and that 2021 #1 pick Jack Leiter develop quickly & quietly for Texas, allowing them to stealthily emerge as a playoff team in the next couple of seasons.
Toronto Blue Jays
Depth
Gabriel Moreno raised his profile in the Arizona Fall League while Orelvis Martinez had arguably the best season of any teenage prospect in 2021. But who's gonna join them?
It's not like Toronto is particularly old, with an average age of around 29 years old for 2021. Vladito and Bo are foundational pieces in your infield while trade deadline acquisition Jose Berrios is just hitting his prime as a top end starter. But this game is unpredictable and I'm sure the Blue Jays would love if a few more of their prospects developed into high potential types, just in case.
Washington Nationals
Polish
Far from the most fascinating set of names, the Nationals seemed to receive somewhat of a boost to its system by receiving Josiah Gray and Keibert Ruiz in the Scherzer deal. But those two were MLB ready and so straight to the Show they went.
Now D.C. will be looking for their other top prospects to be up to the task. Cade Cavalli has done his part thus far, finishing at AAA Rochester in his first professional season. Other top arms (Rutledge, Lara, Henry, Parker) all have some blemishes that need sanding down. On the hitters' side, Brady House leads a group that's equally as flawed as is it is talented.
Happy Holidays!
That's it! I hope you enjoyed reading. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year's, Joyous Kwanzaa, Happy Hannukkah, and a wonderful Festivus for the rest of us. See you in 2022!