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LAST YEARS RECORD:96-66
LAST YEARS PREVIEW: Yep Aarons P-Dogs were barking up a storm last year. And their bite was pretty nasty also. The P-Dogs hit .274 and crushed 233 homers and continued to play great defense (84 errors and a .986 FPct). They also had a very good season on the mound with a team ERA of 4.20.All this made the P-dogs the Big Dogs in The AL with the #1 seed in the playoffs.But they were biten by the Moonbats in the second round and were swept in 3. Next year Aaron will have to make sure the P-Dogs get their shots to cure them from Moonbat fever.In the offseason he took Kerr,Stewart and Satou for a ride and dropped them off at the entrance ramp to free agency.The roster was trimmed down to 25 due to the abandonment of the afor mentioned Dogs. They were expendable after last years promotions of Latos and Gonzales.Aarons P-Dogs are a lean mean fightin machine and will probably win the A L North again.If they slip up the Misfits will move in.Hopefully they can get past the post season failures.PREDICTION:96-66
OUT: Joel Crane , Ernie Figueroa , David Martin
IN: Vic Chavez , Gabe Kent , Manuel Latos
PREVIEW: Aarons P-Dogs finished as predicted with 96 wins due to a stellar defensive squad (78 team errors, .987 fielding percentage) that was ranked 4th in Wrigleyville. They won this division for the 6th consecutive season and went into the playoffs as the #2 seed.They got revenge against the Shocksquad by sweeping them in the DCS.They found themselves in the LCS for the second year in a row. And Aarons P-Dogs lost a heartbreaking game seven to the Cobras (*sob*). In the offseason Aaronwayne let Crane go to free agency and released Figueroa outright. Then he waived Martin,who was claimed by the Black Sox. With only a few holes in the roster, Aaron signed free agents Chavez, Kent and promoted Latos. The P-Dogs defense will always keep them in games. The rest of this division got stronger the last few years and the division championship will not be as easy this year. Aarons P-Dogs still should make the post season and maybe this will be the year of the Praire Dogs.PREDICTION:94-68
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LAST YEARS RECORD:87-75
LAST YEARS PREVIEW: I will not trash Kumbia . It is not my way. And I had several interactions with him over the years and we got along nicely. But in fairness he did not do this team justice and I can't blame many owners when they criticized him.The Mish stepped in and brought in Dodgersgale to take over the team. Dodger loaded up all the equipment and moved the Montreal franchise to New Britian.I'm not sure where New Britain is, but I like the fact that New is in the name. Its kind of fitting for this club, they need a New start.Wow...Dodger gutted this team and brought in bargin bin free agents then promoted several young future superstars and sprinkled it with some others thru various transactions.Your guess is as good as mine how this turns out?? But with the combination of veterans and prospects this team looks good. And they have lots of cap flexability. Things are new and shiny in New Britain.PREDICTION:81-81
OUT: Gary Dimaggio , Herm Harris , Rico Mateo , Tripp Kent , Lloyd Perry , Ross Bush , Tony Jang , Brent Tollberg , Shane Ryal
IN: Stuart Hausmann , Jorge Posada , Willie Burgess , Phil Satou , Philip Schultz , Walter Parker , Sam Strickland , Chad Wood
DODGERSGALE'S PREVIEW: New Britain Bruins Can they repeat the magic of last year? Pitching: The pitching staff is led by Cy Young and ROY winner, Miguel Blanco (22-9, 1.02 whip). He is a year older,and even more dangerous. The rest of the staff pitches in his shadow, but are good as well. Chet Brohawn came on late to provide 10 wins and a 3.10 ERA. David Cabrera will try to slide into the #2 role for the Bruins after making 23 starts last year.New to the staff are free agent Jorge Posada (who will pitch out of the bullpen), and rookies Sam Strickland (starting) and Walter Parker (relieving). The Bruins only allowed 633 runs which was lowest in the AL, and fourth in Wrigleyville.The bullpen features Gorkys Soriano who should lead the league in appearances this year. Defense: The Bruins finished 4th in fielding percentage. Gold Glove Centerfielder, Gerardo Martinez, will continue to patrol the outfield.Herm Harris won a gold glove at 3B, but has been replaced by the strong armed Willie Burgess. They will be hard pressed to repeat a stellar defensive year. Batting: The team was one of the WORST in the AL last year.They had an amazing run despite being almost completely inept. This year they did upgrade by bringing in Willie Burgess (who looks to rebound from a career low year), Bob Daley (added late last year and pounded out .279/.344/.586 in the final half of the season in only 248 AB’s to get to 22 hr and 69 rbi!), and the trade for DH Chad Wood (who should contribute a decent slash line of .310/.330/.510. Final Synopsis: Last year’s miracle season is in the rearview mirror. And looking at this team I can’t see them repeating their playoff run. The offense is a bit stronger, and the pitching just a bit better.But last year was luck more than anything. The rebuild continues for a team that will probably stand pat at their $32 million dollar payroll. They will remain competitive until the reinforcements arrive in about 2-3 years.
PREVIEW: Yep, it's a bright sun shiny day in New Britain. Dodgers team finished above my prediction and made the post season as the #5 seed. They were swept in the first round by Hartford, but it is still a move in the right direction.The Bruins had the 4th best pitching staff last year(.370 team ERA) and the 4th best defense(78 team errors,.987 FPct).Dodger did pick up #2 overall pick Mark McCartney and he grabbed Aroldis Guerra in the IFA Market. The future's so bright, Dodgersgale's gotta wear shades. In the offseason he let Dimaggio,Harris,Mateo,Kent,Perry,Bush and Jang go to free agency. Then he released Tollberg and Ryal outright. With many holes in the lineup Dodgersgale signed free agents Hausmann,Posada,Burgess,Satou and Schultz. He promoted Parker and Strickland then traded for Wood. Well.... the promotion of Parker may be premature according to some game philosophies. I hope he stays healthy and at age 21, its not like hes a kid. But all that aside, this team will be battling for the division and could win it. If not they will be in the wild card hunt and their good pitching and defense may take them deep in the post season.PREDICTON:92-70
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LAST YEARS RECORD:76-86
LAST YEARS PREVIEW: I'm glad the Misfits had a better year. My Magic 8-ball pick has not fared well in previous predictions. And Pbsilver looks to put the nightmare of season 16 far in his rearview mirror. Last year the Misfits were a very good hitting team (.280 BA) but the pitching( 4.92 ERA) and fielding(122 errors) were suspect at best.Perhaps Pbsilver may want to invest in some defensive players in the future?The misfits brought in some big bats in free agency and traded for some defense and pitching. Overall they will still try to outscore you and hope the pitching and defense keeps them close. I'm not sure they can do that.PREDICTION:81-81
OUT: Glen Trujillo , Willie Burgess , Travis Gutierrez , Zach Goodwin , Claude Coleman , Garry Olsen , Thom Gates
IN: Frank Vanguri , Geoffery Sierra , Pedro Rondon
PBSILVERS PREVIEW: we picked up Frank Vanguri, brought up some minor leaguers like Chad Jones, Geoffrey Sierra and Pep Handworth. Last season was a disappointment. Our starting pitching is still suspect, but we should score some runs to make it fun.
PREVIEW: Up year ,Down year,Up year and now another down year. It's enough to make Pbsilver a little queezy. His Misfits took a step back again with a 76 win season. Minnesota has one of the better offensive teams(.273 team BA) but their pitching(4.72 team ERA) and defense(113 team errors) are below average.When I look back at last seasons Weekly Updates. Pbsilver started moving M L players for prospects around the All-Star break. He picked up several nice young players like Aroldis Guerra, Chad Jones and Chris Everett amongst others. So it wasn't a total loss last year, afterall. In the offseason Pbsilver re-signed Mark Phillips and Pedro DeLeon after their options were declined. He let Trujillo , Burgess go to free agency and he released Gutierrez,Goodwin and Coleman. Then Olsen and Gates were shipped to Cincinatti for Vanguri. To fill the last 2 roster spots, Pbsilver promoted Sierra and grabbed Rondon in the R-5. While bringing in Vanguri and Sierra improved the offense the loss of Olsen in the bullpen may hurt PB. Rondon is nowhere near as solid as Olsen. PB will let these guys play until the All-Star break and if they fall behind, he may trade for some youngsters again.The Pitching is still a concern so right now I'd have to say the misfits are a .500 team with an upside.PREDICTION:81-81
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LAST YEARS RECORD:70-92
LAST YEARS PREVIEW: The young Black Sox had growing pains.My prediction of 85 wins was pretty pathetic. The below average hitting(.264 BA) couldn't overcome the 5th worst pitching( 5.29 ERA) and the 3rd worst defensive team(130 errors). So Its not a suprise why this team finished so bad. Perhaps an upgrade in the defense will help the pitching?? The Black Sox let a bunch of talent go to free agency and picked up a couple comp picks. But this team still may be a year or two away from being a solid big league team. PREDICTION:79-83
OUT: Freddie Mohr , Mickey Harville , Austin Hamilton
IN: B.C. Palacios , Hiram Sweeney , Chris Dawley , D'Angelo Gutierrez , David Martin
PREVIEW: Dullaghans Black Sox are consistent with another 70 win season. They are still a work in progress so this was not a shock. With 3 first round draft picks last year, Dullaghan signed Robinson Glover ,Darron Flier and Stone Harding to bolster the farm system. In the offseason Dullaghan let Mohr and Harville go to free agency and he released Hamilton outright. Dullaghan had a few open spots in his roster and first he signed free agents Palacios,Sweeney and Dawley. Finally he claimed Gutierrez and Martin off the waiver wire.I look at this teams overall projections and it makes my blood run cold. They are a very young team with several future super stars. Will this be the year they step up and take us by suprise?? I will say...... no. Mainly because Dullaghan has one of the lowest coaching budgets (9 million) and I think the youngsters need coaching....well thats how it works in the real world anyways. And the 8 million in training is a double whammy on a teams performance. If Dullaghen ups these 2 areas next year, this team may take off. Right now they are a good team with bad Coaching and training.PREDICTION:82-80
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