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LAST YEARS RECORD:95-67
LAST YEARS PREVIEW: The P-Dogs backed up last years 93 win season with a 97 win seasons. But even though they won 4 more games they had to settle for a wild card berth. Just like last year they did it with another great defensive team ( 77 errors, .987 FPct) and a great hitting squad (.283 team BA-5th). The pitching is still average with a team 4.78 ERA, good for 20th overall. In the playoffs the P-Dogs lost in the first round to the suprising Sometimes.The P-Dogs lost alot of talent thru free agency and trades. And the replacements are made up of R-5 and low level Free agents. Looks like a step back year for the P-Dogs unless he brings up some of them tasty prospects in AAA. PREDICTION:84-78
OUT: Enrique Pimentel , Bernie MacDougal , Arthur Blackburn , Jose Lee , Enrique Alfonseca
IN: Mike Tewksbury , Marshall Winn , Fausto Castro , Al Pineda , Vic Mercado , Albert Perez
PREVIEW: Nice job Aaronwayne. The P-Dogs lifted their leg and pissed on my 84 win prediction.The P-Dogs won 95 games last year with good hitting (.274 BA-12th) and great pitching (4.24 ERA- 7th). Imagine how good this team would be with a little better fielding? (103 Errors-18th). Still ,Fargo went into the playoffs as the #2 seed, and after a first round bye. The P-dogs ran into the road and were flattened by the #6 seeded Cobras. In the off-season Aaronwayne re-signed Kirby Blair and let Pimentel and MacDougal go to free agency. He released Blackburn and Lee and traded away Alfonseca. With a few spots open Aaron signed free agents Tewksbury, Winn, Castro ,Pineda and picked up Mercado in the R-5. Finally he traded for Perez to complete this years P-Dog roster. Fargo lost some pitching but replaced them with free agents and a trade. He promoted a young infielder who is not ready for SS but can play any other position. This is pretty much the same group of P-Dogs that made a great run last year. Look for them to be the front runner in the A L North but the Bruins are closing the gap. PREDICTION: 93-69
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LAST YEARS RECORD:86-76
LAST YEARS PREVIEW: Boy did the Bruins play like it. They surpassed my lofty predictions and won the N L North with 101 games. They did it with vey good hitting (279 team BA-8th), Good pitching (4.32 team ERA-12th) and average defense ( 85 errors, .986 FPct). The Bruins had a first round bye in the playoffs, then lost Game 5 in the DCS to the evetual AL Champion Sometimes.Dodger promoted McCartney and Mateo late last year during roster expansions. And as of this writing, he still has 3 open roster spots. But from what I can see , The Bruins will be in the hunt for another division win. They may go deep in the post-season after the roster is filled out.PREDICTION:94-68
OUT: Asdrubal Morales , Stu Elder , Mo Andrelczyk , Cristobal Tarasco , Royce Butler , Francis Belitz , Glenallen Brower , Gorkys Soriano , Sam Strickland
IN: Bernie Richard , Rigo Garces , Adam Hamilton , Ed Corbin , Jorge Fernandez , Louis White
DODGER'S PREVIEW: Last year the Bruins failed to make the playoffs after a stellar 100 win seasons. Some have said that the expectations were just too high,but really it came down to devastating injuries that plagued the pitching staff. New Britain scored 909 runs, but allowed 844. Had Walter Parker and Koji Martin stayed healthy the team would have been closer to 100 wins than the 86 they achieved.Coming into spring training, the team is completely revamped. Gone are some of the veteran players that helped to remake the Bruins (Asdrubal Morales,Stu Elder, and Mo Andrelczyk). In their place is the next generation. Vic Espinoza (international season 20) and Danny Chapman (first round pick, season 21) lead the way for a team that only has three players 30 or older (Jeremy George,Phillip Rhodes, and Chad Wood). You can’t talk about the Bruins and not talk about the dynamic duo of former MVP Ardolis Guerra and Mark McCartney. The team added two time all-star Jorge Fernandez in a trade with Cincinnati (see ya later,Gorkys Soriano!). This is a team that will easily score 900 runs, but if they gel could score as many as 1000 (the only team to do that has been Salem). The pitching staff has familiar faces.Anchored by three time Cy Young award winner, Miguel Blanco, the Bruins took steps to make sure they didn’t run out of starting arms. They now have seven starters (of which four will start while the other three are mixed and matched).The bullpen is lighter than expected with Soriano leaving, but Cabeza, Hart, and new addition Bernie Richard will be able to hold down the later innings. The weakness of this team comes in three areas.Defense is much too weak at shortstop (George), and third (rookie Vic Espinoza). Second is the fact that there are too many right handed hitters. They will kill lefties, but are nearly human against RHP. Last but not least is the bullpen depth.If someone goes down, it could hurt enough to force the team to trade off prospects. Overall, this is a dangerous team that will make a world series run. They will score about 950 runs, and allow about 790 for a predicted record of 97-65.
Update: traded a SP for a 3B. Should shore up my defense, and leaves in position to have even more bench depth. I wouldn't change the prediction. Still 97 wins.
PREVIEW: Dodgers Bruins took a step back with only 86 wins ,which was below my lofty 94 win prediction. And they even missed the playoffs. Perhaps it was just an off year or it could have been the poor pitching (4.81 ERA-23rd) . The good hitting (.277 BA-9th) and defense (79 errors, .987 FPct- 6th) kept them in games and it's why they finished above .500. New Britain did add some youngsters to the farm. They picked up Larry McCormick , Howie Sweeney and Vance Murphy in the draft and Kouhei Chang in the IFA market. In the off-season Dodger let Morales, Elder, Andrelczyk and Tarasco go to free agency. He released Butler,Belitz , Brower and traded away Soriano and Strickland. Dodger signed free agent Richard and promoted Garces. He brought in Hamilton, Corbin, Fernandez and White thru various trades to finish his roster. Hitting and defense is still the mantra of the Bruins. Hamilton and Corbin are decent pitchers but not the upgrade the Bruins needed. New Britain will continue to outscore their opponents and could make the playoffs if the pitching shows up. PREDICTION:88-74
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LAST YEARS RECORD:66-96
LAST YEARS PREVIEW: The Blacksox finished close to my prediction of 79 wins. Last year Chicago had an average hitting squad (.271 team BA-15th) and not very good pitching (4.99 team ERA-25th). Add a terrible defense (130 errors, .979-30th) and you get a sub-500 team.... again.Hacker signed free agent Burks to a big contract. Burks will help out in the pitching department but until the Blacksox do something about the defense............ It will be a long year in Chicago. PREDICTION:81-81
OUT: Yuniesky Duran , Edgar Martinez , Billy Brock , David Martin , Jarrod Barclay , Albert Sandoval , Ollie Greenwood
IN: Flash Reimold , Heath Aldridge , Ernest Spencer , Justin Granger , Russ Porter
PREVIEW: I was very opptimistic on my prediction of 81 wins after I said it would be a long year in Chicago. But it was a very long and disappointing year with only 66 wins. And I know disappointment ,my team won only 67. Surprisingly, Last year the Black Sox had very good hitting (.281 BA-6th) . But the hole in the toe of the Sox was the horrible pitching (5.77 ERA-30th) and defense (124 errors, .979-30th). Hacker did pick up 3 first round draft picks ( Addison Moss , Alex Phillips , Philip Darwin) so it wasn't a unproductive season. In the off-season Hacker released Duran, Martinez, Brock, Martin, Barclay, Sandoval and traded away Greenwood. Hacker signed free agent Reimold and promoted Aldridge, Spencer, Granger and Porter. Here comes the Black Sox...They brought in a solid SP in free agency and promoted some young studs. Three of which will help out the defensive woes . Hackers payroll is 111 million and he still has 14 million in cap space. In a nutshell, Hacker improved his defense and pitching and still has a great offense. This team will win 20 more games than last year and if he picks up a really good pitcher or two during the season..... Who knows how good the Black Sox will be? Right now they are...PREDICTION:86-76
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LAST YEARS RECORD:60-102
LAST YEARS PREVIEW: Pbsilvers Misfits are ....well.... giving him Fits. They won 79 games last year, well below my prediction of 89. Minnesota has a very good hitting team (.282 team BA-6th) but they are getting hammered with poor pitching (5.11 team ERA-25th) and defense (108 errors, .982 FPct-23rd) .With the trades that sent 2 of the best Misfits to other teams. It may signal Pbsilver raising the white flag? This team may be heading for a re-tool.PREDICTION:70-92
OUT: Jackson Dellucci , Tomas Alvarez , Hector Benitez , Ernie Jenkins , Mule Bates , John Lowry , Yank Hill , Pep Handworth , Yuniesky Trevino
IN: Dick Badenhop , Pasqual Perez , Shep Hunt , Bump Tyson , Kirk Tomko , Livan Mercado , Jim Caufield , Rafael Uribe , Thomas Dingman , Chris Grahe , Pedro Javier
PBSILVERS PREVIEW: Still in the rebuilding process. Only 15 players are left from the end of last season and only 12 from the beginning. It will be another long and depressing year for the Misfits, the kings of underachievers!
PREVIEW: Yep....PB's Misfits are in a re-build. So 60 wins was about right and they get the 2nd pick in this years draft. Last year PB picked up Ralph Barrett and Bob Harding in the first round of the draft and signed IFA Eswalin Lee. They should help Minnesota in the future with their Pitching and Defense. Last year the Misfits were expected to have terrible pitching (5.69 ERA-29th) defense (112 errors, .981 FPct-23rd) . But the average hitting was a pleasant suprise (.272 BA-17th). In the off-season Pbsilver re-signed Nick McConnell and let Dellucci, Alvarez, Benitez, Jenkins and Bates go to free agency. He released Lowry and Hill then traded away Handworth and Trevino. PB had many round holes to fill so he signed square pegs Badenhop, Perez, Hunt, Tyson, Tomko, Mercado, Caufield and promoted Uribe and Dingman. He picked up Grahe and Javier in the R-5 draft to complete this years Misfits. They are who they are......Misfits. These loveable collection of players remind me of the Athletics. Can they play like their real life counterparts? It's possible but unlikly in this number generated world. PREDICTION: 65-97
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