 |
| ||||||
LAST YEARS RECORD:109-53
LAST YEARS PREVIEW:108-58 Marks guys had a great regular season as expected . But they were upset by a very good Burlington team in the post season. This bunch of superstars can hear the clock ticking but they have only a couple of more great years left. As of this writing the Kickapoos have 4 open roster spots. They have 2 R-5's yet assigned and about 4 million in cap space. Looks like Mark will either go after a few bullpen pitchers and some bench help when free agent prices fall.Or promote some Nice AAA prospects. But its still the same core bunch of super stars. This team will definitely win the division and go far in the playoffs.
OUT: Al Harding , Don Nelson , Macbeth Lofton
IN: Fred Lee , Jarrod Mann , David Vazquez
PREVIEW: It was a no brainer when I predicted the Kickapoos to win the division. And they did prove me right when they went to the NLCS and lost game 7. Mark has stated that this team is growing gray and are in the twilight of their run. Yeah..Right! In the offseason Mark let Harding,Nelson and Lofton go to free agency but he did re-sign Neifi Ordaz. To fill some gaps he signed free agents Lee,Mann and Vazquez. When you have a great team and win alot. It's inevitable that your players want to get big bucks. So Mark lost Nelson to a max contract but did retain the services of Ordaz and brought in some decent players to fill the gaps. The loss of Nelson is just a minor chink in the Kickapoo armour. But it may be the start of the decline. Right now they are still the best in this division and will go far in the playoffs. PREDICTION:101-61
 |
| ||||||
LAST YEARS RECORD:79-83
LAST YEARS PREVIEW:68-94 The great Witchita rebuild continues . And while the play on the diamond reeks of Chimp poo for the 3rd consecutive year. The prospects are piling up and that is a great deodorant for losing.That means the Wind fans can take the clothspins off their noses and stand down wind again. This team definatly got better with the promotions and the luck of landing Romero.But the Wind needs pitching badly. Until they address that problem they will finish in the basemaent. But if they make a trade or two for some good pitching .Add 20 wins to my prediction.
OUT: Mark Phillips , Louis Woods , Fernando Rijo
IN: Tony Pena , Vic Sardinha
PREVIEW: Last season was actually a good year for the rebuilt Witchita Wind. They almost reached .500 but they gave up to many runs (810 RA) for the offense (788 RS) to overcome . But still it was a great showing for a 55 million dollar team. In the offseason he let Phillips go to free agency and released Woods and Rijo. Last season Kyle Romero was promoted and he helped win some games for the Wind. Look for Hoopcoach to promote Terry Jordan or Bo Mercedes and bring in a backup Catcher to complete his squad.The Wind have some serious talent and are young. But last year they allowed to many runs to cross the plate (810). They also were the worst defensive team in Wrigleyville with 145 errors and a Feilding pct of .976.With a Fielding coach that should be back in the minors its unlikely this will improve. PREDICTION:75-87
 |
| ||||||
LAST YEARS RECORD:74-88
LAST YEARS PREVIEW:85-77 My youngsters did well last season and got my team back in the post season after a long drought. It was probably due to a down year in the NL. No way a 83 win team wins a wild card in seasons past. I'm excited about the additions of Rolando and Peter. They will add some pop to my anemic lineup. Hopfully they will start out strong.
OUT: Eli Fernandez , Karim Paniagua , Bernie Castillo
IN: Thomas Anderson
PREVIEW: I was disappointed winning only 74 games last season. But Peter Okajima won the ROY and Rolando Valenzuela didn't perform up to my expectations. But lets be realistic here, There is only 1 player older than 30 and youngsters are unpredictable. So I may have been overly optimistic last year. In the offseason I resigned free agent Billy Ray Griffiths , let Fernandez and Paniagua go to free agency and released Castillo. I had one slot open at the catcher position so I filled it with free agent Anderson. Late last year I brought in Antone Teagarden , Kid Sanders and Rob McNamara so my team is even younger. I increased my training budget and brought in a new hitting coach and fielding coach. I'm still optimistic ,this team should at least play 500 ball. PREDICTION:81-81
 |
| ||||||
LAST YEARS RECORD:72-90
LAST YEARS PREVIEW:81-81 The Brownsox finished about the same as last year. Soxfan probably is scratching his noggin trying to get his guys to play like a 84 million dollar team.Nothing is more frustrating than signing guys and they play like crap. On the upside Soxfan9 did pick up some nice prospects in the draft. So as of this writing the Brown sox have 1 roster spot open. This is a very young team with talent. Will they get on a roll?? Only time will tell.
OUT: Sidney Tresh , David Vazquez , Kevin Martin , Stephen Hayes , Ben Borland , Harry Aguilera , Louie Bottenfield
IN: Scot Beltre , Rick Surkamp , Lucas Myers , Walt Barfield , Placido Cruz , Harry Paz , Junior Izturis , Sherman Harris , Ossie McMillan
PREVIEW: Speaking of dissapointment. Brownsox was so deflated he picked up his bat and balls and left town. He did leave behind his Blow up plastic girlfriend Polly Esther. She keeps asking "Why dont he Write??". After Brownsox blew town ressda stepped up to the plate and took over the team and Polly. Brown sox left behind more than his main squeeze. He also left the farm system in fine shape with all his draft prospects intact. Thats good news for ressda. In the offseason ressda let Tresh,Vasquez and Martin head to the free agent market. He then released Hayes,Borland,Aguilera and Bottenfield. With alot of holes to fill ,ressda first claimed Beltre off the waiver wire and signed free agents Surkamp,Myers,Barfield,Cruz and Paz. Then he promoted a super DH in Izturis and picked up Harris and McMillan in the R-5 draft.Looks like ressda lowered the payroll by 14.6 million and still kept this team together. They have good coaching and a revamped bullpen. But their catching concerns me. Both are great hitters but not much defensivly. Looks like teams will be stealing the bases when playing the Bandits. Turn around is fair play!! PREDICTION:81-81
No comments:
Post a Comment