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LAST YEARS RECORD:112-50 A.L. Champs
LAST YEARS PREVIEW: When the dust cleared it was the Salmonbellies on top of the A L west last year. They won 102 games with the #2 offensive team in Wrigleyville (.286 Batting average).They also had the #3 defense (73 errors ,.988 FPct) and a decent pitching staff (4.27 team ERA-9th). Mdymonds team enjoyed the first round bye then dispatched the Cobras in 4 and lost a heatrbreaking game 7 in the ALCS.With several holes to fill Mdymond signed "old" Vinny Goldman and thats it! This is normal for Mdymond, He always starts with a incomplete roster, and hey! it works. He has a ton of really nice players at AAA just waiting for the call-up. Look for this team to compete for the division and they should make the playoffs.PREDICTION:99-63
OUT: Buddy Day , Albert Mendoza , Gail Phillips , Vinny Goldman , Bernie Richard
IN:
PREVIEW: Mdymond is on to something folks! Start with enough players to meet the Minimum requirment, then wait and see what players in AAA are playing well. Bring them up and..Wallah!! Best team in the regular season with 112 wins. Well done Mdymond. The Salmonbellies bucked their way as the #1 seed in the playoffs and just about won the Series. It came down to game 7 against last years champion Burlington Coat Factories. Salem lost a heartbreaker but I'm sure they will be heard from next year. Last year the Salmonbellies had great hitting (.282 BA-5th) pitching (3.86 ERA-3rd) and fielding. In the off-season Mdymond let Day, Mendoza, Phillips, Goldman and Richard go to free agency. And thats it ...so far. Salem is a young team with the average age of 28.3 and they only have one spot open. Mdymond still has 3 or 4 players at the AAA level waiting for the phone to ring. So this team is one of the best in Wrigleyville and has depth in the minors.......Big Trouble for us!!!The Salmonbellies play in the rough tough A L West and it is always tough to win the division. They will be in the Playoffs....that is certain. PREDICTION: 100-62
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LAST YEARS RECORD:101-61
LAST YEARS PREVIEW: After my fever ran its course the Moonbats went out and won 91 games. But it wasn't enough for a wild card berth and Helena missed the playoff for the second year in a row. Last year the Moonbats had the 3rd best hitting squad with a team batting average of .284.They also belted 304 homers, second only to the Salmonbellies. The pitching was average (4.69 team ERA-18th) ,but they had a good defensive squad (86 errors,.986 FPct) backing them up.As of this writing Sordie still has 4 roster spots open. But from what I see so far this team got better with the addition of GG 3rd baseman Shave. I think the Moonbats are here to stay and should make the playoffs.PREDICTION:95-67
OUT: Al Pineda , Livan Bonilla , Keith Walker , Jose Pena , Louis White
IN: Jeff Burnett , Walt Lieberthal , Matt Kreuter , Sam Strickland
SORDIE'S PREVIEW: It’s Season 23 and the Moonbats are a-barkin’ once again. After wheeling and dealing and taking on a more youthful visage in Season 22, the Bats found a combination that works and scored a 100+ win season.I’ve tried to improve on that and push towards a return to true championship contention. The Bats are poised to have one of the most potent offenses in club history headlined by Todd Flores,Paxton Wells, aging slugger Matt Abbey and a bevy of big stick-swinging mashers. The nine starters have an average power rating of 78 and should be able to improve on last season’s 311 dingers and .499 slugging % (both second in world behind the division rival Salmontestes). The off-season focus was on improving an already decent pitching staff. Long relievers/spot starters Matt Kreuter and Walt Lieberthal were added through free agency,Sam Strickland was added via trade, and Season 16’s ill-fated Louis White for Jeff Burnett trade was rectified with White shipped out in the Strickland deal and Burnett signed in free agency.Defense is an afterthought with the Moonbats, but there are capable fielders at the skill positions.
PREVIEW: Yep Sordie is a late callup guy also and his Barking Moonbats won 101 games. If playoff seeds were handed out by winning records, Helena would be the #2 seed. But they had to settle for a #5 wildcard berth.In the playoffs they got a second crack at the division winning Salem Salmonbellies in the DCS, but lost 3 games to 1. Last season Sordies Moonbats had fantastic hitting (.288 BA-3rd) great pitching (4.39 ERA-10th) and great fielding (91 errors, .985 FPct-10th). In the off-season Sordie re-signed Victor Paulino , Fernando Urbina , Buster O'Connor and let Pineda and Bonilla go to free agency. He released Walker and traded away Pena and White. Sordie signed free agents Burnett, Lieberthal, Kreuter and traded for Strickland. Starting pitchers Pineda and Bonilla got old and were not re-signed . Sordie grabbed the best available pitching for the price and sacraficed White to bring in a young SP with a bright future. The Moonbats still can hit with the best of them but can the new pitchers keep them in the game. Regardless the Moonbats will be in the playoffs and they will battle the Salmonbellies and Cobras for the division. PREDICTION: 90-72
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LAST YEARS RECORD:97-65
LAST YEARS PREVIEW: My regular season prediction of 98 wins was spot on. That may be due to the Blind Squirrel effect. The Cobras had the best hitting team in Wrigleyville (.287 team BA). Add the 5th best pitching staff (3.92 team ERA) and the 2nd best fielding team (68 errors,.989 FPct) , well you can see why they are tough to beat. They went into the playoffs as a wild card in name only .But couldn't get past their division nemisis Salem in the DCS.The signing of the big time bats of Pineiro and Cogan will keep the Cobras one of the best hitting teams. And the trade that brought in Johnson will help soften the loss of Stewart and Satou. This is one of the toughest divisions and the Cobras should make the playoffs.PREDICTION:95-67
OUT: Charles Fetters , Gus Grossman , Craig Serrano , Ignacio Sosa , Ed Corbin , Julio Johnson
IN: Placido Telemaco , Chad Catalanotto , George Cordova , Joe Wesson , Jose Pena
SWISH'S PREVIEW: After failing to reach the World Series again, the Cobras hit the free agent market hard again in picking up SP Placido Telemaco in the hopes that a stronger pitching staff will take them to the promised land.On the offensive side.....Harry Padilla continues to win batting titles, Johnny Stone continues to hit homers and Polin Pineiro continues to add to his HOF resume but,once again, Alexi Rios and Phillip Pryce will be the keys to how good the offense is this season. If they stay healthy then the Cobras should be a force but if they are struggling with injuries then this could be a long season.
PREVIEW: Tough division and Swish's Cobras were up to the task. Arizona won 97 games and went into the post-season as the #6 seed where they slithered all the way to the ALCS. They met up with the division champ Salem Salmonbellies and were swept in 4 games. It seems the Salmonbellies have a little Mongoose in them. Last season Swish's- Naja naja's- had the #1 ranked hitting squad (.291 BA) and the #1 ranked fielding team (60 errors, .990 FPct) in Wrigleyville. With a decent pitching staff (4.49 ERA-15th) , I'm not suprised that they went far into the playoffs. In the off-season Swish re-signed Billy Tenbrink and let Fetters, Grossman, Serrano, Sosa go to free agency, and traded away Corbin and Johnson. The Cobras had a couple roster spots open and signed Free agents Telemaco, Catalanotto, Cordova, and traded for Wesson and Pena. Swish brought in a couple really good pitchers and still has a good hitting and fielding club. Arizona may have enough to take the division. If not, they should make the playoffs. PREDICTION:95-67
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LAST YEARS RECORD:67-95
LAST YEARS PREVIEW: Coach 34 was here 9 seasons and he had some success winning the Series in season 17. It's rumored that he went to live in North Korea. After his good friend Dennis Rodman came back with a glowing endorsement. New owner and chief bottle washer Groger bought the team for five 50lb bags of rice and 250 gallons of heating oil (N Korean Currency). Groger moved the Shock Squad from Scottsdale to Cheyenne and changed the name to the Grizzlies. Last season this team had good hitting (.276 team BA), Average pitching (4.39 team ERA) and average defense (94 errors, .985 FPct).Good Lord! Talk about blowing up a team. Perhaps Groger is really Jeffrey Loria in disguise?? PREDICTION:60-100
OUT: Bump Tyson , Don Hyzdu , Zach Goodwin , Ruben Reyes , Bennie Davis , Don Nunnally , Tony Quantrill , Bailey Gil , Rodrigo Merced , Miguel Maradona
IN: Roosevelt Rapp , Max Prieto , Tony LeCroy , Wandy Corpas , Orlando Lee , Bernie MacDougal , David Terry , Stu Elder , Corey Rodgers , Jamie Yang , Logan Lorraine
PREVIEW: I'm not going to revisit the Groger scandal of last season. But I would like to welcome back Sonneboy to the toughest division in Wrigleyville. Your gonna need alot of Pepto and some patience , but with your experience, I'm sure you will have Cheyenne back to respectability. Last year the Bagwell Bashers had average hitting (.272 BA-16th) and fielding (110 errors, .982 FPct-20th). The problem with Cheyenne was the pitching (5.22 ERA-28th), and pitching aint cheap in Wrigleyvilles free agent market. In the off-season Sonneboy re-signed Vasco Morales , Scott May , Felix Gao , Leo Charles and let Tyson, Hydzu, Goodwin, Reyes, Davis, Nunnaliy, Quantrill, Gil and Merced go to free agency. He released Maradona to complete the purge! Now Sonneboy had no team left so he claimed Rapp, Prieto, LeCroy, Corpas and signed free agents Lee, MacDougal, Terry and Elder. He promoted Rodgers and picked up Yang and Lorraine in the R-5. Whew!! these changing of the guard teams are alot of work. When a team has such a large turnover. I have to go to the Franchise Ranking page to make my prediction. It looks like the pitching will be decent but the lack of defense and hitting will keep this team in the basement. PREDICTION: 60-100
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