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LAST YEARS RECORD:94-68
LAST YEARS PREVIEW: ARomanos Crushers were the best in the A L East again. And like season 17 ,they were one of the best hitting teams(.281 team BA), second only to the Crabbers.Hartford led the league in doubles(282) and were third in homers(267). They could have won more games but the pitching staff was one of the worst(5.00 team ERA). This is the pros and cons of playing at Welch Park.In the playoffs ARomanos Crushers mashed the New Britain Bruins in the first round then lost the the A L Champion Cobras in the DCS.Last year ARomano called up Odalis Suarez ,Rob Stults and Wilkin Segui and this may be one of the reasons the Crushers finished well. I never underestimate ARomanos baseball sense and he usually fields a competative team. And this year he will also have the #19 ,#20, #39, #40, #45 picks in the draft.So I'm inclined to think it will be another good year for Hartford and they will improve the farm system at the same time. Nice!!.PREDICTION: 88-74
OUT: Petey Lieber , Glenn Hull , Casey Graham , Luis Flores , Omar Bonilla , Chris Sosa
IN: Joaquin Pena , Wade Harris , William Wieters , Tito Brea , Rudy West , Dewey Sabel
PREVIEW: The Hartford Crushers replaced their longtime owner ARomano with taz21 midway thru last year. Aromano is a friend and he will be missed by Wrigleyville. Taz did a great job filling in and handed the reins over to Goldenbaer88 who outbid many other worthy canidate. This team was moved to Washington D C to be closer to Goldenbaers Digs and favorite Tittie bars. Last year this team had the 3rd best hitting team (.282 BA) but one of the worst fielding squads( .982 FPct-28th). Stuck in the middle was the average pitching staff (4.53 ERA-17th) . Goldenbaer will have some work to do in the offseason so first he let Lieber,Hull,Graham and Flores go to free agency. Then he traded away Bonilla and waived Sosa. Goldenbaer promoted Pena,Harris and Wieters and traded for Brea,West and Sabel. We knew it was just a matter of time before Goldenbaer tapped the talent in the farm system. With the promotions and players brought in thru trades, this team is stout. But they are young with 11 players under 27. This team should win the division but don't be suprised if they stumble in the post season.PREDICTION:90-72
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LAST YEARS RECORD:71-91
LAST YEARS PREVIEW: Ards Pirates didn't finish at .500 as I predicted but he did pick up a couple of nice prospects. Ard has lowered the overall pay for his bunch of Bucaneers the last 4 years to strengthen the farm system. He threw 20 million in gold dubloons at Harry Lucano in the IFA market and shanghaied Roy Cousins in last years draft. Both of these scurvy dogs will make fierce Bucaneers when they reach the Bigs! AARRGG!!The Riemold contract of 4 years 55million and a 10 million bonus can mean only one thing. Ard is starting to make his move. Then you throw in the promotions of some good prospects and the Pirates just became contenders. While they still have some youngsters waiting to finish cooking. Ard's Pirates will improve on last years win total.PREDICTION: 83-79
OUT: Juan Durazo , Terry Lewis , Dan Evers , Thom Wright , Damaso Martin
IN: Julian Stern , Hal Middlebrook , Jorge Molina , Wally Clark , Vic Flores , Edinson Trinidad
PREVIEW: ARRRGGGHH!! The Pirates played like barnacle incrusted clams last year, finishing with only 71 wins. Far below my lofty prediction of 83 wins. I thought with some good FA signing the Pirates were ready to Rape,Pillage and Plunder. But they were scuttled early by below average hitting (.257 BA-21st) and pitching (4.88 ERA-26th). Ardthomp did improve his defensive squad with .984 FPct and 101 errors. This was an improvement over season 18's .982 FPct and 113 errors. In the offseason Ardthomp re-signed Karim Paniagua and let Durazo,Lewis,Evers and Wright go to free agency. Then he released Martin outright. To fill in the gaps, Ardthomp signed free agents Stern and Middlebrook and promoted Molina,Clark and Flores. Ardthomp knows how to play this game and he made some moves to get this team on the right track. Them Pirates will be pillaging at a location near you!PREDICTION:81-81
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LAST YEARS RECORD:69-93
LAST YEARS PREVIEW: Avantrael's Boston Knights finished close to last years prediction. Yep, the pitching was again the 3rd worst in Wrigleyville (5.03 team ERA).Avantreal's Knights did bring in James Wainhouse in the draft and he could help lower the ERA in 2 years.Boston still has a good hitting club (.275 team BA) and this kept them out of the scrap heap.The promotion of Molina will help the Team ERA but Lloyd is a little wild for my liking. With one more open roster spot, maybe Avantrael will trade for a impact Pitcher to get this team to the next level. The Knights can still hit the rock with the best of them and should be near the top in batting aveage.Right now this team is average but with an upside! PREDICTION:81-81
OUT: Victor Lilly , Rafael Valdez , Fernando Calvo , Luther White , Pasqual Perez
IN: Royce Jennings , Petey Lieber , Domingo Delgado , Graeme Quinn
PREVIEW: It's another sub-500 season for the Knights. The Knights have always been good at swinging their Swords and last year was no different. With the 7th ranked hitting team ( .275 BA) and a average defense (.984 FPct-15th). Boston was betrayed by the worst pitching staff (5.50 ERA-32nd) in Wrigleyville. In the offseason Avantrael let Lilly,Valdez znd Calvo go to free agency. Then he released White and traded away Perez.With only a few roster spots open, Avantrael signed free agents Jennings, Lieber and promoted Delgado. He then traded for Quinn to complete the roster. The pitching is still the problem and until Ardthomp addresses this.....The sun will set on the Knights early in season 20. PREDICTION:75-87
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LAST YEARS RECORD:66-96
LAST YEARS PREVIEW: Jmuhtoff's Louisville Howlers held a Fire Sale last season. This is why they finished far below my prediction. Jmuhtoff was howling mad when his team started slow and he cleaned house. This brought in many good young players and the #2 pick in this years draft. With extra money after moving out salaries, the Howlers were able to grab Pablo Lee in the International market.Its obvious with the lowering of the cap by 22 million, Jmuhtoff is in a rebuild.The Howlers will look for more draft picks next year.PREDICTION:65-87
OUT: David Vazquez , Ivan Cortez , Dan Hamilton , Jeffrey Moreno , Trever Goodwin , Ken Walton , George Lemon , Eric Milliard , Carson Tobin
IN: Chris Sosa , Renyel Maranon , Fausto Castro , Robin Cirillo , Matt Kreuter , Don Lim , Stu Elder , Gerardo Bonilla , Joakim Lecuona , John Diaz , Omar Perez
PREVIEW: This was a easy prediction seeing how the Howlers are in a Re-build. The Howlers defense was suprisingly good with a FPct of .985 and only 91 errors. The real story here are the players picked up in the draft like Sam Price and the lack of any noteable IFA signings by the Howlers. It was tough to land a big IFA with all the cash being handed out in the IFA market. In the offseason Jmuhtoff re-signed Lyle Ruffin and let Vazquez,Corez,Hamilton,Moreno,Goodwin,Walton and Lemon. Then he released Millard and Tobin to complete the house cleaning. Jmuhtoff needs alot of players to replace the departed , so he first spent over 34 million on free agents Castro,Cirillo,Krueter,Lim and Elder. Then he promoted Bonilla and Lecuona and picked up Diaz in the R-5. Finally he traded for Perez and claimed Sosa and Maranon off the waiver wire. Whew!! that was some house cleaning. Gentlemen let me introduce the new look Howlers. They are a combination of good free agents with some juicy youngsters.They may be the most improved team from last year and could hit the .500 mark. Next year will be even better after some of the kids are cooked. PREDICTION:81-81
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