 |
| ||||||
LAST YEARS RECORD:100-62
LAST YEARS PREVIEW: Well....I knew one of the A L west teams would miss the dance. But I never thought it would be Scottsdale. I guess the great offense(.278 BA-4th) and good defense(.985 FPct-6th) couldn't overcome the average pitching (4.48 ERA-16th). Overall , Coachs Shocksquad is a good team with a chance to make the playoffs every year. And any of us would be happy with that. In the offseason Coach34 re-signed Vinny Goldman and Walt Nation then let Crespo,Rekar and Maloney go to free agency. Then he traded away Perez to Louisville for Darrell Huff. With a couple roster spots open , Coach signed free agents Rogers,McMillan,Mercado and Goodwin. Coach went out and spent 21.5 million in free agency on top of the 10 mil it took to re-sign Nation and Goldman. Winning ain't Cheap!! The Shocksqaud would probably be division champs in another division, but the competition is fierce in the A L West. This is a very good team and always has the chance to win. It wouldn't suprise me to see them in the post season.PREDICTION:92-70
OUT: B.C. McMillan , Grant LaRocca , Chris Taylor , Harry Pena , Craig Serrano
IN: Ben Davis , Quinn Collins , Vasco Morales , Kevin Martin , Rick Reagan
PREVIEW: Nice bounce back Coach. Money can't buy happiness but it can buy the AL West. The Shock Squad played like a 127 million dollar team with 100 wins and the #1 seed in the AL. Scottsdale made it all the way to the A L Championship but were buried by the Prairie Dogs in 5 games. Last year the Shocksquad had the 3rd best hitting team (.279 BA) and the 5th best pitching squad(3.80 ERA). And the combination of the 2 are always a good thing. in the offseason Coach34 re-signed Albert Coleridge and let McMillan, LaRocca, Taylor, Pena, Serrano go to free agency. With many holes to fill Coach34 signed free agents Davis, Colloins, Morales, Martin and Reagan. Scottsdale lost several pitchers and a corner infielder to free agency. But this also freed up some cash and he went shopping in the market. Coach did well replacing the lost pitching with younger better versions. The Shock Squad will still be in the hunt for a division and world serties championship. Scottsdale is a lock for the playoffs. PREDICTION:98-64
 |
| ||||||
LAST YEARS RECORD:97-65
LAST YEARS PREVIEW: The Cobras were in the playoffs as predicted and grabbed the #1 seed. Swish's guys won a spectacular 111 games last year and made it all the way to the Series for the second straight year. Arizona was swept by the Crabbers in disapointing fashion and thats gonna hurt.The Cobras really have no weaknesses, with great hitting(.290 BA-2nd) ,pitching(3.67-6th) and fielding(.987 FPct-3rd). In the offseason Swish let Elder,Tenbrink and Torres go to free agency then traded away Trinidad. With only a couple spots open Swish signed free agent Dodd leaving one spot left to fill. Which makes this a easy Preview. The Cobras are the same team as last year with a little more experience. They will battle for the division with the others again and if they don't win the division ....... A Wild card is a lock. PREDICTION:105-57
OUT: Ted Jordan , Albert Mendoza , Robb Holder , Randy Rogers , Santos Mieses
IN: William Mateo , Billy Tenbrink , Phil Satou , Ignacio Sosa , Craig Serrano , Che Cho
SWISH's PREVIEW: It was an interesting offseason in the desert as the Cobras were in full rebuild mode when trading Robb Holder on 12/14 after being swept out of the playoffs in Season 20 only to turn around and be in full reload mode two days later with the trade for SP Che Cho. The Cobras followed up the Cho trade by signing veteran free agents Ignacio Sosa, Craig Serrano, Billy Tenbrink, Phil Satou and re-signing Art Stewart. The offense will need another big season from two-time AL MVP's Harry Padilla and Johnny Stone while Alexis Rios and Phillip Pryce will need to stay healthy and produce something along the lines of 60 home runs and 190 RBI's combined. With all the veterans on the roster the ability to stay healthy will be the biggest key as this team makes one or two more runs in the playoffs before a true rebuild begins
PREVIEW: It was a battle as predicted but the Cobras came up short on the division title. They did make the playoffs as a wildcard and were swept in the second round by division nemisis Scottsdale. Like last season Swish's guys have no weakness with great hitting (.275 team BA-5th) , pitching (3.74 team ERA-4th) and defense (75 errors-3rd). In the offseason Swish re-signed Art Stewart and let Jordan and Mendoza go to free agency. Then he traded away Holder and Rogers to Minnesota and Mieses to Tampa Bay. To fill up dem holes, Swish claimed Mateo off the wire and signed free agents Tenbrink, Satou, Sosa and Serrano. He also traded for Cho who had a great run in San Juan. It's hard keeping you're guys when they want to get paid. So it was a no-brainer letting Mendoza's 17 million contract go to free agency.And the trades that sent a couple of young Cobras to the Misfits and Stars not only helped free up some extra cash, the players from Minnesota were delt for Cho. Swish Signed some most excellent free agents including my long time want, Sosa. So the Cobras are still stout and should battle for the division and wilcards. Always dangerous in the playoffs, even more so with Cho...PREDICTION:98-64
 |
| ||||||
LAST YEARS RECORD:94-68
LAST YEARS PREVIEW: At the time of writing last years preview the Salmonbellies had not finalized their roster. So it was impossible to predict how they would fare. Mdymonds guys did just fine last year in this tough division with 94 wins and a playoff berth.The Salmonbellies were the best defensive team last year with 77 Errors(-1st) and a fielding percentage of .988-(1st). Add some good hitting(.271 BA-12th) and pitching(4.16 ERA-10th) and its easy to see why the Salmonbellies made it to the 2nd round of the playoffs. In the offseason Mdymond let Jose,Crane,Veras Cruz go to free agency then released Flores and Crosby. Just like last season Mdymond will start the season several players below the 25 man roster limit. To each his own. Still the core players that are there are very good. So this team will battle with the other three teams in the A L West. PREDICTION:88-74
OUT: Ernest Truman , Tomas Cruz , Livan Bonilla , Al Astacio , Mike Reese
IN:
PREVIEW: The Salmonbellies did fill out the roster and did battle his division foes . Salem also grabbed the last wildcard spot and lost in the first round to the Pirates. Mdymonds team always plays well and last year they had good hitting (.274 team BA-7th) and great defense (77 errors-5th), but the pitching (4.40 team ERA-17th) was about average. In the offseason Mdymond let Truman, Cruz, Bonilla, Astacio go to free agency while releasing Reese outright. Mdymond will continue to keep me guessing. He still has 2 roster spots open and from what I can see this is mostly the same team as last year. look for them to battle for a division or wildcard spot. PREDICTION:92-70
 |
| ||||||
LAST YEARS RECORD:84-78
LAST YEARS PREVIEW: The Moonbats are back baby!! Moonbat fever is alive and well with Helena's return to the post-season. Sordies Pteropodidaes won 98 games last year with the best offensive team in Wrigleyville (.293 BA-1st,1721 hits-1st) and a improved defense(105 errors-18th,.983 FPct-17th). In the post-season the Moonbats got by the Tabaky Farmers but lost in the second round to the Cobras. In the offseason Sordie re-signed Jose Roque and Fernando Urbina . Then he let Brown,Frazier,Taguchi and Cirillo go to free agency and released Tollberg. Finally he traded away Torres to Madison for May. With a couple holes to fill, Sordie signed free agents Paulino and O'Conner. Sordie did a great job upgrading his pitching and this will make them hard to beat with his potent offense. But this is the Wild Wild A L West and the competition is stout. The Moonbats have a good chance to win the division and should make the post season. PREDICTION:90-72
OUT: Joaquin Morlan , Scott May , Herm Harris
IN: Nicholas Bevil , Livan Bonilla , Alton Herzog , Hugh Mulder
PREVIEW: This division is enough to drive me Moonbatty. Sordies Pteropdidaes missed the playoffs with 84 wins and the Fever has subsided in Helena. The Barking Moonbats are a good team they just have a rough schedual from playing in this division. Last year they were tied for the #1 offense with a team BA of .281 and also were good defensivly (78 team errors-7th). The weakness was the pitching staff with a combined ERA of 4.56 ranked 20th. In the offseason Sordie let Morlan, May, Harris go to free agency. To fill in the empty roster spots Sordie signed free agents Bevil and Bonilla and promoted Herzog and Mulder.The Moonbats look to rebound after a down year and this team may do it. They may end up being the best 4th place division team again. But I've got the Moonbat fever and I believe they make the playoffs. PREDICTION:94-68
No comments:
Post a Comment