| 16 March 2010
... according to the spring preview guides.
As I'm sure most of you know, every year, right before spring training, a flurry of magazines are published to preview the upcoming baseball season. These magazines, published by the likes of Sporting News and Athlon, feature expert analysis about each of the thirty teams in baseball, including World Series and MVP, Cy Young, etc. predictions. I'm a big fan of these magazines and, as I've said before, actually have kind of a collection of them.
As I flipped through these magazines last week, it occurred to me that there was something else the publishers were saying: on every page, in every magazine, they are declaring who they feel is the face of the franchise. When you flip from, say, the Royals section to the Twins section in a magazine like the Sporting News preview guide, you move from seeing a large action photo of Zack Greinke to seeing a large action photo of Joe Mauer. Hard to dispute that.
But with three magazines each featuring at least one photo on all thirty teams' pages, there's bound to be some discrepancies between them. I thought it might be a little fun to see where these discrepancies were, since they might give a little insight about how certain clubs are viewed. Below, then, is a list of all thirty clubs and the players highlighted in photos in the Sporting News, Athlon, and Lindy's preview magazines. You might be surprised by how little consensus there is for most clubs...
(Click "Read More" to continue reading.)
A quick note about how each magazine lays out its photos before we get to the table:
- The Sporting News features one large photo on the team's introductory page. They also highlight a single offensive player in a section called "The Book On: (TBO)". There isn't any overlap between the main photo and "TBO" sections, so I felt it was fair to include the "TBO" sections in the listing. Otherwise, it might look like they've ignored some key players. A couple of teams also have a second player highlighted in a small box on the second page.
- Athlon highlights two players per team, in the pseudo-baseball card form. The photos are placed next to each other across the spine, with the first photo placed above the second. You can consider the featured players as "co-headliners". However, since one photo has to be before the other, I'm making the distinction.
- In the Lindy's magazine, one player is featured on the team's main page. On the second and third pages, a smaller action photo is seen, featuring one of the players discussed on that page. This layout kind of tilts the choices to pitchers and outfielders, though there are times when they've adjusted the player bios around to accommodate different choices.
Now, on to the listings. See if you can find the most surprising choices (*cough*Magglio Ordonez*cough*)...
| Team | The Sporting News | Athlon | Lindy's |
|---|---|---|---|
| Angels | Kendry Morales, w/Hideki Matsui The Book on: Bobby Abreu |
Kendry Morales & Torii Hunter |
Torii Hunter w/Jered Weaver & Kendry Morales |
| I don't know if it's just me, or if it's a reflection of the Angels' team-building philosophy, but it would've been hard for me to decide on who would be considered the face of the Angels. I certainly wouldn't have gone with Kendry Morales, though... | |||
| Astros | Carlos Lee The Book on: Lance Berkman |
Carlos Lee & Wandy Rodriguez |
Roy Oswalt w/Lance Berkman & Michael Bourn |
| Speaking of face of the franchise, I would've put money down that Berkman or Oswalt would be the face of the Astros. Not that Lee is a shocking choice or anything... | |||
| Athletics | Kurt Suzuki The Book on: Mark Ellis |
Andrew Bailey & Brett Anderson |
Kurt Suzuki w/Brett Anderson & Ryan Sweeney |
| And then of course there are the A's... | |||
| Blue Jays | Aaron Hill w/Lyle Overbay The Book on: Adam Lind |
Adam Lind & Aaron Hill |
Aaron Hill w/Ricky Romero & Adam Lind |
| Without Roy Halladay, the pickings seem to be down to Aaron Hill and Adam Lind... which, when it comes down to it, isn't all that bad. | |||
| Braves | Tommy Hanson The Book on: Chipper Jones |
Tommy Hanson & Jair Jurrjens |
Brian McCann w/Tim Hudson & Nate McLouth |
| It must be the excitement of a young pitcher, but I'm pretty surprised to see Brian McCann only featured in one of the magazines... | |||
| Brewers | Ryan Braun The Book on: Prince Fielder |
Prince Fielder & Ryan Braun |
Prince Fielder w/Yovani Gallardo & Ryan Braun |
| Pretty easy choice here. | |||
| Cardinals | Chris Carpenter w/Adam Wainwright The Book on: Albert Pujols |
Albert Pujols & Chris Carpenter |
Chris Carpenter w/Yadier Molina & Albert Pujols |
| But an even easier choice here, and they botched it. How is Albert Pujols not the biggest photo in every magazine? I can only imagine the publishers are getting tired of featuring Pujols every year and that they feel like they need to change it up... | |||
| Cubs | Derrek Lee The Book on: Aramis Ramirez |
Aramis Ramirez & Derrek Lee |
Carlos Zambrano w/Derrek Lee & Aramis Ramirez |
| Split between Lee, Ramirez, and Zambrano. Sounds just about right... | |||
| Dbacks | Mark Reynolds The Book on: Justin Upton |
Mark Reynolds & Dan Haren |
Justin Upton w/Dan Haren & Mark Reynolds |
| This makes sense: Upton's young and exciting and Reynolds is a masher. Still, seems like Haren should be the hands-down winner here. | |||
| Dodgers | Manny Ramirez w/Russell Martin The Book on: Andre Ethier |
Matt Kemp & Andre Ethier |
Matt Kemp w/Clayton Kershaw & Andre Ethier |
| Sporting News went the easy route and featured Manny. Kind of nice to see the other two mags go with Matt Kemp as their lead-guy. And a little surprised to see Kershaw in only one of them... | |||
| Giants | Tim Lincecum The Book on: Pablo Sandoval |
Tim Lincecum & Pablo Sandoval |
Tim Lincecum w/Matt Cain & Pablo Sandoval |
| The first unanimous selection by the three magazines. Timmy and Panda are the perfect mixture of exciting young pitching and exciting young hitting... | |||
| Indians | Shin-Soo Choo The Book on: Grady Sizemore |
Grady Sizemore & Shin-Soo Choo |
Grady Sizemore w/Kerry Wood & Asdrubal Cabrera |
| Choo and Sizemore are absolutely sensible. Wood and Cabrera make a surprising appearance here... | |||
| Mariners | Felix Hernandez The Book on: Ichiro! |
Ichiro! & Felix Hernandez |
Franklin Gutierrez w/Felix Hernandez & Ichiro! |
| You have to wonder sometimes what the folks as Lindy's are thinking. How in the world do you choose Franklin Gutierrez to be the face of the franchise over Ichiro! and King Felix? Yes, he's the Death to Flying Things, but that's just not enough... | |||
| Marlins | Josh Johnson The Book on: Hanley Ramirez |
Chris Coghlan & Hanley Ramirez |
Hanley Ramirez w/Josh Johnson & Cameron Maybin |
| Up to this point, Athlon has had the most reasonable, level-headed selections of the three magazines. So does it really make sense to highlight Coghlan above Ramirez? | |||
| Mets | David Wright The Book on: Carlos Beltran |
David Wright & Francisco Rodriguez |
Johan Santana w/David Wright & Jeff Francoeur |
| Wright, Santana, Beltran, K-Rod... Francoeur?!?!? | |||
| Nationals | Adam Dunn The Book on: Ryan Zimmerman |
Adam Dunn & Ryan Zimmerman |
Ryan Zimmerman w/John Lannan & Adam Dunn |
| For a team as "bad" as the Nats, they do have some solid players to feature... | |||
| Orioles | Matt Wieters The Book on: Adam Jones |
Nick Markakis & Matt Wieters |
Matt Wieters w/Chris Tillman & Adam Jones |
| The media does love to highlight Matt Wieters. It makes sense, of course, but it's not like the Orioles are hurting for young, exciting players... | |||
| Padres | Kevin Kouzmanoff The Book on: Chase Headley |
Chris Young & Heath Bell |
Clayton Richard w/Adrian Gonzalez & Everth Cabrera |
| The only thing I can guess here is that each publisher expected Adrian Gonzalez to get traded this winter and so didn't want to risk featuring him on their Padres' pages. With him staying on the Padres, though, it seems a little silly... | |||
| Phillies | Roy Halladay The Book on: Jimmie Rollins |
Ryan Howard & Chase Utley |
Jayson Werth w/Cole Hamels & Ryan Howard |
| With the arrival of Doc Halladay in Philly this winter, it seems fair that he gets featured by one of the magazines. And with all the other stars and fan favorites - Rollins, Howard, Utley - the different choices are understandable. Still, seeing Jayson Werth as Lindy's choice is a little weird (and it's especially sad since his beard is not there)... | |||
| Pirates | Andrew McCutchen The Book on: Ryan Doumit |
Andrew McCutchen & Garrett Jones |
Andrew McCutchen w/Zach Duke & Paul Maholm |
| The cleanest sweep of any of the 30 teams. It's pretty obvious who *the guy* is in Pittsburgh this year... | |||
| Rangers | Nelson Cruz The Book on: Ian Kinsler |
Michael Young & Josh Hamilton |
Elvis Andrus w/Scott Feldman & Michael Young |
| Whereas the Rangers are all over the place. For a team as promising as the Rangers, their lack of one "main face" is a little surprising | |||
| Rays | Evan Longoria The Book on: Carl Crawford |
Carl Crawford & Evan Longoria |
Carl Crawford w/James Shields & Evan Longoria |
| Longoria and Crawford - about as easy as they come. | |||
| Red Sox | Victor Martinez The Book on: Kevin Youkilis |
Jacoby Ellsbury & Kevin Youkilis |
Jacoby Ellsbury w/Josh Beckett & Victor Martinez |
| Is Jacoby Ellsbury really the default face of the franchise? I can't be the only one a little saddened by that, can I? | |||
| Reds | Brandon Phillips The Book on: Joey Votto |
Brandon Phillips & Joey Votto |
Joey Votto w/Johnny Cueto & Jay Bruce |
| Reds fans have a lot to be excited about with these young guys... | |||
| Rockies | Troy Tulowitzki The Book on: Todd Helton |
Todd Helton & Troy Tulowitzki |
Ubaldo Jimenez w/Troy Tulowitzki & Dexter Fowler |
| Ubaldo Jimenez is a great young pitcher and totally deserving to be the third choice in something like this. But I'd still have a hard time choosing him over Tulo and Helton. | |||
| Royals | Zack Greinke The Book on: Billy Butler |
Billy Butler & Zack Greinke |
Zack Greinke w/Joakim Soria & Billy Butler |
| The only surprise here is that Greinke isn't the first choice in all three magazines (even if it is just the "1A" option in Athlon). | |||
| Tigers | Justin Verlander w/Brandon Inge The Book on: Miguel Cabrera |
Magglio Ordonez & Justin Verlander |
Justin Verlander w/Miguel Cabrera & Brandon Inge |
| Here's Athlon's biggest mistake: Magglio Ordonez? Really? The guy they almost let go last year by not giving him enough PAs? Verlander makes a strong showing otherwise... | |||
| Twins | Joe Mauer The Book on: Justin Morneau |
Joe Mauer & Joe Nathan |
Joe Mauer w/Joe Nathan & Michael Cuddyer |
| If Mauer can get the clean sweep here, why not Pujols up above? | |||
| White Sox | Jake Peavy w/Carlos Quentin The Book on: Gordon Beckham |
Mark Buehrle & Bobby Jenks |
Gordon Beckham w/Jake Peavy & Alexei Ramirez |
| Some indecision between the three mags on the White Sox. I would've expected Buehrle to be the easy choice here... | |||
| Yankees | Mark Teixeira, w/Derek Jeter The Book on: Alex Rodriguez |
Derek Jeter & Mariano Rivera |
Derek Jeter w/CC Sabathia & Mark Teixeira |
| Kind of like Jeter and the Yanks. Teixeira gets some well-deserved love here. A-Rod is fairly ignored, though... | |||
(and sorry if the table's a little hard on the eyes... I can't find a font size that's just right.)
