Who Can't Compete?

The last few years have seen a lot of claims that most teams - sometimes the count is as high as 24 - can't compete - that these teams have no chance at winning the World Series. Even the Angels World Series victory hasn't convinced the skeptics that this claim is total nonsense. It's true that many teams have only a small chance of winning it all, but there's a big difference between a small chance and no chance at all.

About 25% of major league teams really don't have a chance, and that's always historically been true. Here's a look at the teams of 2003 that really can't compete.

Detroit Tigers - You've probably heard about their offensive ineptitude. The pitching isn't that great either, though it's at least major league quality. The bottom line is that this team has very little talent, and their struggles will continue for years.

Tampa Bay Devil Rays - There's talent here, but it's not ready for the majors. Right now their offense is too young and their pitching is too weak. It's not as dismal a situation as Detroit has, but Lou Pinella is going to have to wait a few years before the kinks are dealt with.

Pittsburgh Pirates - Despite the presence of superstar Brian Giles and a few positive additions to the lineup this year, the bottom line is that this team is still too weak offensively to accomplish anything with a pitching staff that is, at best average.

San Diego Padres - There's a ton of young talent here, but it still needs a few years to jell, and the preseason injuries to Hoffman and Nevin ensured that the Padres could not compete with the rest of the division

Milwaukee Brewers - This team has some decent frontline talent - Richie Sexson, Geoff Jenkins, Ben Sheets, Matt Kinney - but there's no depth to the offense or the pitching. The organization is suffering the fruits of years of bad management.

Baltimore Orioles - In many ways the opposite of the Brewers. The roster is filled with acceptable major league talent, but there are no stars or even very good players.

Before this season, I would have added one more AL Central team - the Royals. But thanks to some unexpectedly great young pitching, they're in first place, and the Indians have taken their place as the result of an offense that has been terrible except for Milton Bradley. The Indians have enough talent so that they should contend in the future, but they've dug too big a hole for themselves this season. The success of the Royals may not last, but it shows that even among the teams that don't look competitive, surprises are possible.

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