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LAST YEARS RECORD:84-78
LAST YEARS PREVIEW: I wrongly thought the Wingdings were going to win the division last year. Goldenbaer thought so too when he made several trades before the All-Star break. heres the Link ( THE WEEK IN WRIGLEYVILLE S-21 #4 ). But it didn't help, towards the end he shipped off some players for prospects. Last season Washington D C had good hitting (.275 team BA-12th), average pitching (4.38 team ERA-15th) . But the Ding in the Wings was the defense. They were dead last with 147 errors and a FPct of .976.After a busy off-season trade binge, Goldenbaer has made the Wing Dings a better club. Can they win the division the way they sit right now. It's possible. But you and I know that Goldenbaer will be a trading players all season. If he comes up with the right bunch at the end, he may do damage in the post season.It's a three team race in th A L East.PREDICTION:87-75
OUT: Scott Cookson , Wandy Corpas
IN: Ted Brush
PREVIEW: I was happy that Goldenbaer won the division. I thought they would do it in S-21 but better late than never. And yes, this is a weak division but a division winner they are. Washington did improve the hitting (.284 BA-4th) last year and held ground with the pitching staff (4.45 ERA-13th). But the biggest improvment was the defense they went from dead last to a respectble 13th (93 errors, .985 FPct-13th).The new and improved Wingdings went into the post-season and drew a 101 win wildcard team,bad luck! In the off-season Goldenbaer re-signed Geronimo Cruz , let Cookson go to free agency and lost Corpas on the Waiver Wire. The only addition was Brush who was brought in through a trade with Little Rock. Goldenbaer fixed his defensive woes last year and he added a good hitting and fielding 3rd baseman. So this team right now may win about 85-90 games. Goldenbaer will again probably make some trades this season if his team underpreforms. Goldenbaer will have to win the division to make the playoffs and he is the favorite in this weak division.PREDICTION:88-74
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LAST YEARS RECORD:80-82
LAST YEARS PREVIEW: I predicted this team would finish about .500 and thats exactly where they finished. Jmuhtoffs Howlers just about won the division with a good hitting (.278 team BA-9th) and average defense (88 errors, .985 FPct). The pitching let the Howlers down with a team ERA of 5.20 ,that ranks 29th overall.The Howlers added some nice old free agents and the promotion of Lee should help out in the pen.Jmuhtoff may give the Pirates a run for the division crown. PREDICTION:88-76
OUT: Glen Swann , Denny McCormick , Ezdra Canseco , Omar Perez , Gene Weston , Yannick Earley
IN: Edgardo Rivera , Jorge Guerrero , Hipolito Cano , Terry Bold , Ollie Greenwood , Junior Okajima , R.J. Roque
JMUHTOFF'S PREVIEW: Here's the rundown on this season's Redtails club: The Redtails wish Gene Weston great success in Cincinnati and are greatful for his stay in Lousiville.When the opportunity came to make a move to bolster the offense and add R.J. Roque and Junior Okajima, Redtails management decided that a change was in order.With the later addition of Ollie Greenwood the Redtails have the potential for an outfield of three 30HR 100 RBI guys. SS Xavier Cain played well enough in a late season call up to earn a starting spot this season.Ageless C Randy Lowell tested the market and decided to come back for his lucky 13th season and see if he can knock in his 1000th ML RBI all with the same club.The departure of Weston makes youngtser Walt Henry the ace of a staff that pitched over 800 innings for the Redtails last year. Pablo Lee returns to the closer role after converting 32 of 40 opportunities last season. Rule V players Terry Bold and Hipolito Cano hope to stick around and provide some left handed depth to the bullpen.All told the Redtails hope that the rotation can improve after a year together and that the offensive changes are enough to boost the team to 900 runs scored,which is what we figure it will take to win the AL East and make a strong run to the playoffs.
PREVIEW: Jmuhtoffs Howlers did make a run for the division but finished 4 games out. Jmuhtoff decided it was time to re-brand his team and the new Louisville Redtail T-shirts and Accessories went on sale last week. Last year this 80 win team was ...er...average. The Hitting (.271 BA-18th), Pitching (4.46 ERA-14th) and Fielding (101 errors, .983 FPct-18th) was near the middle of the pack. Jmuhtoff did add Trent Steinbach and Donaldo Balboa in last years draft and could be in the bigs in 2-3 years. In the off-season Jmuhtoff re-signed Randy Lowell , Philip Schultz then let Swann, McCormick and Canseco go to free agency. Then he shipped Perez , Weston and Early to other teams. With some gaps in the line-up, Jmuhtoff signed free agent Rivera and promoted Guerrero. Then he picked up Cano and Bold in the R-5 and traded for Greenwood , Okajima and Roque. Weston will be missed in the rotation but Louisville picked up 2 sluggers for him. Jmuhtoff was able bring in a really good CF'er and this may help out the weaken rotation in the long run. The new and improved Redtails may break .500 this year. PREDICTION: 83-79
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LAST YEARS RECORD:78-84
LAST YEARS PREVIEW: The Pirates took a step back with only 83 wins, but it still was enough to win the division. The Love Ship sailed into the playoffs as the #4 seed, but was sunk in the first round by the Cobras. Last year Pittsburgh had a good defensive team (85 errors, .986 FPct-9th) but the average pitching (4.89 team ERA-22nd) and hitting (.271 team BA-16th) kept them from getting deeper in the playoffs.This team improved with the promotions and some R-5 players. Young Tavarez will shore up the defense and Lucano and Aguilar have bright futures on the mound. The Pirates should win at least 90 games. Whether its enough to win the division is up to the other three teams.PREDICTION:91-71
OUT: Flash Reimold , Freddy Stahoviak , Julian Stern , Adrian James
IN: Vic Mercado , Chris James , Danny Wilson
PREVIEW: Boy!! I blew this prediction. 90 wins?? The Pirates sprung a leak in their Ship and floundered to a 78 win season. Back in port Ard looked at last season and saw that his Defense was stellar, Ranked #4 with 77 errors and a FPct of .987. This helped the average pitching staff compete (4.70 ERA-19th) but the offense (.263 BA-27th) marooned the Pirates. Pittsburgh did add a ton of talent in the draft by picking up five first round picks (Ryan Lee, Ozzie D'Amico , Edgar Carrasco , Lyle Alexander , Lou Gamel ). So last season was not..... for not! In the off-season Ardthomp re-signed Karim Paniagua , Jake Alston and let Reimold , Stahoviak , Stern and James go to free agency. To fill the cracks in the hull, Captain Ard claimed Mercado of the wire and signed free agent James to a 5 year ,128 million dollar contract. He promoted Wilson from Swab to Mate to finish his crew. With the addition of High Dollar James and others this team has improved the pitching. But the hitting still needs help. Maybe Good pitching and defense will overcome and playing in this weak division will help. Look for the Pirates to make trouble for Louisville and Washington. PREDICTION: 81-81
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LAST YEARS RECORD:71-91
LAST YEARS PREVIEW: The Knights had another rough year with only 62 wins. And even though I predicted 72 wins, I wasn't suprised that my prediction was overly optimistic. Last year Avantrael's Knights had terrible defense (128 errors, .979 FPct-31st) and the the worst pitching staff (6.15 team ERA-32nd). The hitting was average (.271 team BA-17th) so all is not lost.There still is one more slot open on the M L roster and Avantrael has options at AAA. The Knights still have a poor defensive team (CF) and can't over come it with a average offense. Looks like another average year in Boston.PREDICTION:67-95
OUT: Abraham Brownson , Hick Boucher , Nipsey Benard , Bernard Wilson
IN: Miguel Maradona , Junior Maeda , Tomas Alvarez , Kordell Madson , Omar Perez
PREVIEW: Boston finished close to my prediction but it was an improvement on S-21. Last season Avantrael's Knights had the 2nd best offense in Wrigleyville (.289 BA-2nd) but the 2nd worst pitching (6.14 ERA-31st). The defense (119 errors, .980 FPct-25th) did improve a little but still has a ways to go. They did pick up R.A. Bowie with the 5th pick in the draft and he will help out the defense in 3-4 years. In the off-season Avantrael let Brownson, Boucher, Benard and Wilson go to free agency. Then he signed free agents Maradona, Maeda, Alvarez and promoted Madson. Finally the Knights traded for Perez . The only upgrade on the pitching problem was Alvarez and he won't be enough to get this team above .500. Maybe the added firepower of Perez will overcome the lack of pitching. Avantrael has the lowest budget for players in the league and has maxed out his draft scouting.It looks like a long Dark Night for Avantrael , but he will pick up some quality prospects in the draft.PREDICTION:70-92
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