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LAST YEARS PREVIEW: My appologies Ehull I threw the jinx on your Coat Factories when I picked them to win the World Series. But at least one of your division mates won it! Last year the Burlington won 95 games and were the #5 seed in the playoffs and made it to the second round where they lost to the tough Kickapoos. This team suffered a power outage with the 28th ranked hitting team last year(.253 team BA). They did however continued thier pitching dominance with the #2 ranked pitching staff (3.31 team ERA) and the defense was very good also (76 errors-6th).Even though the Coat Factories failed to bring me World Series Prediction Glory(It's all about Me LOL). I still like thier fit and they will give the Red Light Districts all that they can handle.Ehulls Burlington team will make the playoffs and be a tough foe in the post-season.PREDICTION:97-65
OUT: Polin Pineiro , Don Nunnally
IN: Marty Allen
PREVIEW: Congrats again Ehull on your Championship. In my opinion it was long overdue. The Coat Factories had the best record in the regular season and they parlayed that into a World Series Ring. Last year the Coat Factories had the #1 pitching team (2.85 team ERA-1st) , in fact they left the rest of us in the dust. The closest to their 2.85 ERA was the Red light Districts 3.28 ERA. They also had the #1 defense, commiting only 62 errors with a FPct of .990. The hitting was above average (.271 team BA-13th) but you don't have to score alot of runs with great pitching and defense. Burlington was tested in the NLCS when they won game seven against the Kickapoos. And the AL Champ Somtimes took them to game 6 ,but in the end, no one had an answer for the World Champion Coat Factories. In the off-season Ehull re-signed Juan Guerrero , Fonzie Bittle and Ricardo Amaral and let Pinero and Nunnally go to free agency. The loss of Pineros 20 million salary helped re-sign several good players. And Ehull replaced Pineros bat with free agent Allen at half the cost. So looks like Ehull's Coat Factories have to be the favorites win the Series.No jinx this time.PREDICTION: 102-60
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LAST YEARS PREVIEW: Over the top went the Red Light Districts all the way to the World Series Championship. I never predicted the post season success but Jeff did pull off several key trades to put his guys in good position to win it all. Like picking up Luther Rapp , Danys Mota , Horacio Mesa and Alex Cornelius early in the season, were key pieces in the playoff run. Last season Cincinatti won 99 games with the #1 pitching team (3.30 team ERA-1st) in Wrigleyville. The Red Light Districts also had average hitting (.264 team BA-17th) and above average defense (85 errors-11th).This team got better and that is scary, so they are going to be in the playoffs and should be a favorite to repeat.PREDICTION:98-64
OUT: Garry Olsen , Joseph Hyun , Horacio Mesa , Shep Hunt , Luther Rapp , Ryan Olshan , Andres Ferrer , Deivi Gabriel
IN: Tomas Herrera , Rafael Pimentel , Dion O'Donnell , Jae Yamaguchi , Pablo Samuel , Alex Outman , Junior Okajima
JEFF2106's PREVIEW: The Red Lights went into last year thinking they were better than the season before. Even after adding some guys that should have been better than their replacements they weren't. We still can't seem to hit like how they should be hitting.The SP seemed to dip a little even though we he the 2nd best pitching staff. So just like last year we were looking to get better at hitting. We also had some decisions to make with the bullpen as 3 of the 4 wold not be resigned.So out the door went Joseph Hyun , Horacio Mesa , Shep Hunt and Garry Olsen who I tried to resign but wanted to test FA and ended up losing his services.Lots of relay good bullpen pieces left and all have a WS ring. On the other side I decided to not resign Ryan Olshan and Luther Rapp .We did pick up 6 extra draft picks but they will all be useless as I don't have any money to scout for the draft. So on to the remake of the bull pen we moved Wayne Zerbe there, signed Dion O'Donnell ,Rafael Pimentel and Jae Yamaguchi to fill out the rotation. 1 or 2 guys will be brought up to finish the pitchers. Should be just as good as the last 2 seasons when we finished with the top staffs.I signed Tomas Herrera to take over the catching duties, signed Pablo Samuel to be a 4th OF. Of course it's not really an offseason with me taking someone or 3 or 5.I traded for Junior Okajima to take over in RF. after that I didn't need Deivi Gabriel or his 7mil price tag. All in all I think I have made this team better than the year before.I'm hoping we can hit like they should and the pitching continues its form. I think we can win 94-100 this year so ill go in the middle. 97-65 and hopefully good enough for 1st place but more than likely 2nd with another wild card spot.
PREVIEW: The Red Light Districts Had a very good year but play in the tough NL EAST. This division is a beast and has produced the last 3 World Series Winners. And the defending champs made a great showing with 94 wins and grabbed a wild card berth. Last year this teams batting was below average (.261 team BA- 23rd) and the defense was pedestrian (103 errors, .983 FPct-20th).The Star was the 2nd ranked pitching (3.28 team ERA) and that kept them competative. In the playoffs Cincy lost in the first round to the Tampa Bay Stars. In the off-season Jeff let Olsen, Hyun, Mesa, Hunt, Rapp and Olshan go to free agency. He traded away Gabriel to Chicago and lost Ferrer on the waiver wire. With some holes to fill, Jeff signed free agents Herrera, Pimentel, O'Donnell, Yamaguchi and Samuel and promoted Outman. He added Okajima with the earlier trade. There are a few holes in this team but the Red Light Districts can still play with the best of them. With San Juan re-building and Syracuse just coming out of one this team could make it to the post season.PREDICTION:90-72
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LAST YEARS PREVIEW: Even tho Ralphs Island Guys finished 11 games below my prediction, they still made the playoffs as the #6 seed. San Juan met up with the eventual champs in the second round and lost a tough game 5. Last year the Santurce Crabbers Had average hitting (.268 team BA-14th), and good pitching (4.08 team ERA-10th) and defense (86 errors-10th).While this was not a firesale so to speak, Ralph has started a re-build of his team. He lowered his overall salaries by 20+ million and picked up many comp draft picks. Look for the Santurce Crabbers to ride out the season and pick up juicy prospects.PREDICTION:70-92
OUT: Darren Holmes , Bernie MacDougal , Terrence Munoz , Fausto Fernandez , Duke Krivda , Chad Krause , Willie Mercado , Pablo Samuel , Damaso Gonzalez , Junior Okajima
IN: Duane Belinda , Tyrone Handworth , Nicholas Bevil , Tuck Simmons , Al Fernandez
PREVIEW: The Crabs are re-building but still won a respectable 80 games. Ralph had 5 first round picks and brought in a ton of young talent like Esmil Sosa , Enos Crespo , Vance Kulik. Last year San Juan had good defense (86 errors, .986 FPct-10th), good hitting (.276 team BA-10th) and good pitching (4.31 team ERA-10th). Not bad for a rebuild Ralph. In the off-season Ralph re-signed Ernest Truman , Orlando Lee and let Holmes, MacDougal, Munoz, Fernandez, Krivada, Krause, Mercado and Samuel go to free agency. Then he traded away Gonzalez and Okajima. With many , many holes to fill, Ralph claimed Belinda and Handworth off the wire. Then he signed free agent Bevil and traded for Simmons and Fernandez. You know your team was good when most the players you let go to free agency, get picked up by other teams.And Ralph is in a rebuild so he replaced them with waiver wire pickups and other so-so players. This team still has 3 roster spots open, they may get filled with waiver specials or bargain players. Regardless the Crabbers could still win about 70 games. PREDICTION: 70-92
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LAST YEARS RECORD:62-100
LAST YEARS PREVIEW: Bad news...The Moose had a real bad year. The Good news... You can't hang me twice. I didn't think the Rugbys bunch would reach .500, but I never thought they would win only 56 games.Looks like a rebuild to me.One thing that struck me was that none of the players on the OUT list were not picked up by any other team. They were NOT good , and we knew it.Syracuse has one of the lowest overall payroll at 28.7 million. They have a ton of money for IFA's if Rugby chooses to go that route. Look for The moose to pick up some prospects and finish near the bottom again.PREDICTION:65-97
OUT: Juan Pena , Francis Belitz , Jose Sanchez , Jair Arias , Tyrone Handworth
IN: Ronald Carter , Andy Shannon , Hipolito Silva , Gerald O'Neil , Miguel Santiago
RUGBY's PREVIEW: The addition of a couple of young Bull Moose from AAA, Ronald Carter and Andy Shannon along with the return of Justin Brantley from a season long stint on the DL and returning power hitter Davy Gomez should see the Moose migrating back to the top of the standings this year. Midre Duran has the potential to put up Mike Trout numbers from the leadoff spot. If the offense produces like we hope then there will be less pressure on the pitching staff and young guns Hipolito Silva, Quilvio Carrasquel and Jair Olmeda at the top of a revamped rotation. Aside from perennial gold glove candidate Khiry Allen behind the plate the defense will be challenged, especially Carter at first whose range resembles the Texas two step. We tried to deal him to an AL team last season as he best position would be DH, so now we will see if the best deals are those never made. The team will be young and exciting and if the bats produce like we think than the Moose will be HERD from!
PREVIEW: The Moose Finished close to predictions. Last year Syracuse won only 62 games but thats an improvment on season 20. Rugbys guys had terrible hitting (.248 team BA-31st), average pitching (4.37 team ERA-14th) and bad defense (123 errors, .980 FPct-27th). These stats are about what to expect for a re-build. In the off-season Rugby released Pena, Belitz, Sanchez, Arias and Handworth. With a few roster spots open, Rugby promoted Carter, Shannon, Silva and O'Neil and grabbed Santiago in the R-5 draft. Holy Crap Rugby. Nice call-ups! The Moose are on there way back folks. The youngsters that were promoted will improve this team immensely.They still have a little ways to go but this team will be my pick for most improved.PREDICTION:82-80
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