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LAST YEARS RECORD:97-65
LAST YEARS 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!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
OUT: Julio Fernandez , David Vazquez , Robin King
IN: B.C. McMillan , Quinton Sauer
PREVIEW: Just my luck (or Marks) that I predicted the decline of the Kickapoos. It was a given on the division crown and tho I thought they would go far in the post season. I figured they would be beaten by one of the N L East teams.And in classic Kickapoo fashion, they turn around and win the whole darn thing! Congratulations Mark and maybe you should slip me a little green so I will underestimate your team in this years preview.I was right about Marks bunch not winning as many games in the regular season. It was the first sub 100 win season since season 3,an impressive run indeed! The Kickapoos had the 2nd best defense last year(69 team errors,.989 fielding percentage) and the #1 pitching team (3.00 team ERA). Pitching and Defense is always great in the playoffs and could be the reason why they won the World Series. In the offseason Mark re-signed Fred Lee , Pablo Mairena and Sammy Gandarillas then let Fernandez and Vasquez go to free agency.King was waived for cap space and picked up by the Stars. To fill a couple of holes in the roster, Mark signed free agents McMillan and Sauer. The Champion Kickapoos are not as strong as before, but Mark will make some moves during the season, like last year. San Francisco will win this division and the mid-season adjustments will have them primed for a repeat.PREDICTION:99-63
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LAST YEARS RECORD:84-78
LAST YEARS 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.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
OUT: Pedro Colon , Harry Aparicio
IN: Sting Hansen , Reese McGee , Bobby Collins
PREVIEW: I have a young team here and they play that way. The win streaks were followed by losing streaks and repeated over and over.It kind of reminded me of bungie jumping. It's fun for a while, but to much will make you throw up. Last year my Totems improved their hitting by .005 percent(.260 in S-17 to .265 in S-18) and the pitching stayed pretty much the same(4.37 ERA in S-17 to 4.13 ERA in S-18).My defense was also constant (88 errors in S-17 to 84 errors in S-18). Looks like a average team to me, so in the offseason I may have to improve, or risk losing my lunch. In the offseason I downed several Dramamine and let Colon test the free agent market. I also released Apracio for cap reasons. I only had a few open roster spots and some extra cap space so I first signed Hansen to a big contract and promoted McGee and Collins. I hope that the signing of Sting(You Two) Hansen will keep other teams from pitching around Peter Okajima. Most of my team is coming into their prime and I hope they will play consistant ball. I'm optomistic about this year but were still not good enough to supplant the Kickapoos.PREDICTION:88-74
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LAST YEARS RECORD:68-94
LAST YEARS 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.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
OUT: Fonzie Bittle , Del Bonilla , Placido Cruz , Juan Durazo , Harry Paz , Walt Barfield , Eswalin Canseco , Devaris Gibbs , Howard McGehee , Adam Hamilton
IN: Mickey Harville , Tony Jang , Herman White , Gary Stern , Carson Bailey , Shin-Soo Wan
PREVIEW: Ressda and Polly Esther have gone their seperate ways. She was deflated after Brownsox blew town. The Colorado Spring Bandits also were left behind by most of the league with only 68 wins. This team took a step back from the previous seasons mainly due to a porous defense(110 team errors,.982 fielding percentage).As expected, the catching core was tied for the worst caught stealing percentage (.186 ). They threw out only 27 base stealers in 188 attempts.In the offseason Ressda let Bittle,Bonilla,Cruz,Durazo,Paz,Barfield and Canseco go to free agency then he released Gibbs and Mcghee outright. Then Hamilton was traded to Cincy to complete the purge. To replenish the team, Ressda signed free agents Harville,Jang, White and promoted Stern. Then Bailey and Wan were added in the afor metioned trade.The Bandits still need a defensive catcher and have a slot open with 8 million in cap space.Ressda added some good pitching and a nice RF'er and that should help. But this team still not ready for the post season.PREDICTION:75-87
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LAST YEARS RECORD:60-102
LAST YEARS 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. 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 fielding pct of .976.With a fielding coach that should be back in the minors its unlikely this will improve. PREDICTION:75-87
OUT: Alfredo Valentin , Julian Navarro , J.J. Melhuse
IN: Lonny Black
PREVIEW: Yep, Hoopcoach's Defense was the worst ..again. They outdid last years error total by 15. With 160 total errors and a fielding percentage of .974 this team never had a chance. But on the bright side the Witcita Wind picked up Felipe Baez and Diego Sanches in the draft and the # 4 pick in this years draft.In the offseason Hoopcoach let Valentin,Navarro and Melhuse go to free agency. The only player brought in so far is Lonny Black, and he was grabbed in the R-5 draft. Hoopcoach still has 3 spots open and the season starts in a few hours. So I have no idea how this team will fare?? And he only has 200k in cap space so he may have to promote some talent from AAA. PREDICTION:70-92???
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