Comeback Kids

Every season a new player will come along and break your heart.Perhaps this player was a perennial all-star who has a bad year. Maybe it’s the young up-and-comer who can’t quite match his previous season. It could be the aging veteran who was being counted on for a stellar year, but just couldn’t produce.

Each year, teams hopes are dashed due to a number of factors. However, a down year by a key cog could spell the end of your season before it begins.

So comes a new year with new aspirations. Who might come back to life after a painful 2007 season? Let’s take a look at players who need a big turnaround for their teams to have a chance.

Carlos Delgado, New York Mets:
Part of the Mets' epic collapse in ’07 was due to a rash of injuries and a terribly timed slump at the end of the year. But a major force behind the fall of the Mets was Carlos Delgado’s poor excuse for a season.

24 home runs and 87 RBI is nothing to shake a stick at. But when you look at the overall body of work from Delgado’s career, it goes down as possibly his worst.

You can blame his performance on a failed recovery from elbow surgery. However, Delgado has missed 18 or more games in five of the last six seasons. Sadly, his time as a prolific slugger may be coming to an end. He ranks 37th on the all-time home run list. While he should hit 30 homers this year, he is quite obviously on the downside of his amazing career. The Mets need him this year, so can he deliver?

Richie Sexson, Seattle Mariners:
For a guy who has five 30-homer seasons under his belt, last year was a sickening season for Sexson.

Hitting .209 with only 21 home runs is terrible on any level, but the frustrating season for Sexson who endured hamstring and hip issues throughout the year.

Seattle is in need of a middle-of-the-order bat to produce big power. Adrian Beltre has not lived up to the hype following his 48 home run season with the Dodgers a few years back, and Raul Ibanez is not a masher, but will knock in runs.

To be a contender, the weight will be on Sexson’s cortinzone-injected shoulder to carry the offensive load. Anything less that 30 bombs will be a disappointment again, and will probably mean the end of the run for this once incredible slugger.


Adam Eaton, Philadelphia Phillies:
Some, including myself, scratched their heads after the Phils gave Eaton a $24 million contract before last season.

Somehow reaching 10 wins in first season with the Phillies, Eaton struggled mightly, yes with injuries, but also with allowing anyone and everyone to hit off of him.

His 6.29 ERA was the worst of any starting pitcher in the big leagues, a sure sign that the Phillies have wasted money.This is a new season, but will Eaton be the same man? A comeback year is one where a player reaches a level he was previously at before his decline. Eaton’s best year came in an abbreviated season where he went 11-5 with a 4.27 ERA, which isn’t anything special.

Even so, the Phillies will gladly take that. They need just about anything they can get from Eaton, realizing that they are short on arms.


Dontrelle Willis, Detroit Tigers:
When you win 22 games in a season and blow people away with unhittable stuff at just 24-years old, people expect you to be the next big thing.

Things went the other direction for Willis the last two seasons after that memorable 2005 campaign when he came in second for the NL Cy Young Award.

Florida cleaned house as they seem to do every few seasons, and Willis was sent to Detroit who believe he still has the tools to become a top-tier starter. After a rough spring, questions are again surfacing on whether or not Willis still has it.

His lack of control and loss of velocity has worried some, and this could be a telling year not only for the Detroit Tigers, but in the career of Dontrelle Willis.

The D-Train needs to get on the track again, and if he does, it could mean huge things for the Tigers.

MLB Preview: The Biggest Moves of the Winter

Every year, great players change addresses in the Majors, changing the landscape of the league.

This year, there were a ton of moves during the winter, and even a blockbuster or two.

Spring training has begun, and the parts that moved during the off season are now becoming acquainted with their new teams. Here are a few that could impact their new teams more than others for the 2008 season:



OF Kusoke Fukudome (Japan to Chicago Cubs)

What the Cubs have been lacking the past few years in the outfield, Fukudome more than makes up for.

After signing a four year, $48 million contract to jump the Pacific, Fukudome will take over right field for the sorry platoon of Jacque Jones and Cliff Floyd. At 30, he does have some mileage on him.

However, the guy is an “Ichiro-Matsui Hybrid” by all accounts, which is something the Cubs surely will want to drive to the postseason.

Look for him to have a stellar year; a little pop in the bat and some speed on the paths, and just enough energy to get Chicago back to the playoffs.



3B Miguel Cabrera and P Dontrelle Willis (Florida to Detroit)

When you give up nary a big leaguer and get two superstars back in return, things are looking damn good. Just ask the Detroit Tigers, who unloaded up and coming talent, for here and now talent.

If we were to look 10 years down the road, there would be a select few players who will still have their footprint on the game.

Miguel Cabrera will be one of them.

The Tigers gave up studs Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin in the deal, but it’s a win-win for both sides. Florida is amazing at utilizing talent, and will get the most out of the two youngsters.

Detroit will get on the large back of Cabrera and the arm of Willis (slated to be a third or fourth starter) and could be on their way back to the World Series.



P Erik Bedard (Baltimore to Seattle)

Finally, we can take baseball seriously in the Emerald City again.

The Mariners have spent and spent and spent the last few seasons, with nothing to show for it.

Adrian Beltre, Richie Sexson, Jarrod Washburn, Jose Vidro. All fairly big names, yet none has had the impact the M’s were hoping for.

That may change with the addition of Erik Bedard.

Giving up one of the games great young players in Adam Jones, Bedard stablizes the rotation, giving them two front line starters along to go with Felix Hernandez. He also can help the maturation process of Hernandez by taking the pressure off of him as a #1.

That could be the biggest key.

Right now, the M’s and Angels are painstakingly close to one another in all aspects of the game. The AL West is now up for grabs.



P Eric Gagne (Boston to Milwaukee)

The former Cy Young Award winner has derailed in the last few seasons.

A balky elbow and a bad back have sent Gagne falling from grace. A link to steroids hasn’t helped the cause either.

The Milwaukee Brewers are sending a message with this deal.

They are contenders.

Taking a $10 million chance could be a steep one. But if Gagne can get back on track, so can the Brewers.

They have a great young team, and Gagne at the back end of the bullpen could provide huge dividends down the road as they fight on with the Cubbies.



P Dan Haren (Oakland to Arizona)

You’ve heard the one about Johan Santana going East.

But the real key off season deal could lay in Arizona, where young Ace Danny Haren was shipped from Oakland.

The cash-strapped A’s have fielded an entire all-star team in the past decade, gettin zero out of it but a few playoff wins. Haren is the latest in line to go elsewhere.

This is Arizona’s gain however.

Putting Haren in the two slot behind Brandon Webb gives them a formidable combination in the rotation.

The D’Backs made it to the NLCS last year and haven’t changed a thing. Except bringing in an amazing pitcher.

Look out.



OF Delmon Young (Tampa Bay to Minnesota) and Matt Garza (Minnesota to Tampa Bay)

A great talent of the Rays organization, Young was dealt due to a logjam in the outfield.

The Rays traded Young for Matt Garza, a good looking pitcher who could give Tampa something they sorely need.

Another working arm.

The Rays have failed to make that next step, largely due to their inability to get guys out. They have the offense, so can Garza step in and give them 200 innings and maybe 13 wins?

They sure hope so.

As for Young and the Twins, he could be the face of this franchise in the next few seasons now that Johan and Torii are gone. Look for big numbers, if not this year, certainly next year from Delmon Young.



Brad Lidge (Houston to Philadelphia)

Albert Pujols.

Nightmares.

Those two words are synonymous with the fall of Brad Lidge.

The guy can absolutely still pitch in this league. But Albert Pujols sure wrecked his psyche.

After seeing that ball smashed to the Gulf of Mexico back in the ’05 playoffs, Lidge has had some trouble on the mound.

New GM Ed Wade realized that maybe a change of scenery would do him and the franchise some good, so he shipped him to Philly for a few kids.

Lidge could be the main force behind another playoff run for the Phils. If he can do what Brett Myers did last year in the closers role (besides get hurt), then the Phillies could be back again.