Before the 2006 season gets underway, let’s review some more interesting team factoids, beginning with the top 10 teams in wins/year over the past four years:

Yankees: 100

Braves: 97

Cardinals: 96.75

Red Sox: 95.25

Athletics: 94.5

Angels: 90.75

Giants: 90.25

Twins: 89.75

Astros: 88

White Sox: 87.25

Tampa Bay Devil Rays

The combined winning percentage of the Devil Rays’ opponents last year was .510, the highest in the Majors. We might have expected as much from the last place team in the AL East, but it goes beyond that. The Rays had to play some tough teams in the NL, including St. Louis, Florida, and Milwaukee. They wound up with a ML-worst 3-15 Interleague record.

Impressively, Tampa Bay rebounded with a 39-34 second-half record, despite an even tougher second half schedule. This year, they remain in a tough AL East, and will face the Braves, Marlins, Phillies, Nationals, and Diamondbacks in Interleague play.

Chicago White Sox

Chicago leadoff hitter Scott Podsednik missed 13 games in the month of August. It is this reporter’s opinion that his absence contributed greatly to Chicago’s .294 team OBP and 11-15 record during the month of August. For the season, the Sox went 82-45 (.646) when Podsednik started and 17-18 (.486) when he didn’t.

Oakland Athletics

The last time the Oakland A’s had back-to back Rookie of the Year winners (‘86-’87), they not only had the ROY winner the next year, but also made it to the World Series in the following three seasons. With Bubba Crosby and Huston Street having won the award the past two seasons, and most everyone predicting that Oakland will win the AL West, it looks like we might have a case of history repeating itself.

But who is going to win that third ROY? Daric Barton (1B) Kevin Mellilo (2B) and Javier Herrera (OF) are all terrific prospects, but none appears ready to do more than get called up in September for a few swings. Pitchers Dan Meyer and Santiago Casilla (formerly Jairo Garcia) may each be ML-ready, but will they get a chance on one of the deepest pitching staffs in baseball?

Probably not. The A’s had the lowest Batting Average Allowed on Balls In Play (BABIP) in the AL at .287, meaning that they had a terrific defense last year. The pitchers currently on Oakland’s 25-man roster simply aren’t likely to struggle in a pitcher’s park with a great defense behind them.

Cincinnati Reds

Finally, the Cincinnati Reds have traded their surplus OF/1B talent for pitching help! After swapping Assistant GM/1B Sean Casey for LHP Dave Williams, and now OF Wily Mo Pena for RHP Bronson Arroyo.

The trouble is, both Arroyo and Williams are flyball pitchers, and according to Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2006, the Great American Ballpark has allowed 11% more home runs per flyball than the average stadium in its three years of existence. In fact, every member of the Reds' projected five man rotation was among the 20 most extreme flyball pitchers in the Majors last season!!!

Truly, this is a poorly-run franchise.

San Diego Padres

The Padres had baseball’s easiest schedule last year, and it could have been even easier; the Royals were the only team in the AL Central that San Diego didn’t play. This year, things should be a little more difficult in an improved NL West. All of the Padres’ Interleague games will be against the AL West in2006.

San Franciso Giants

San Francisco scored the second fewest runs in baseball last year largely due to the absence of one Barry Bonds. Over the past two seasons, the Giants have gone 93-60 (.609) in games in which Bonds steps up to the plate more than once. They are just 73-98 (.427) when Barry pinch hits or doesn’t play.