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LAST YEARS RECORD:99-63 (WORLD SERIES CHAMP)
LAST YEARS 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.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 favorite to win the Series.No jinx this time.PREDICTION: 102-60
OUT: Don Nelson , Mike Karnuth , Eduardo Valdes , Kendry Pena
IN: Del Lopez , Freddy Stahoviak , Albert Torres , Jackie Guthrie
PREVIEW: I had good reasons for ranking Ehulls Coat Factories as favorite to win the Series. And really, it was a easy peasy call. Burlington still had most of the bunch back that won the Series in S-21. They went into the post season with the #2 ranked pitching staff in Wrigleyville (3.41 ERA-2nd) and the 7th ranked defensive club (79 errors, .987 FPct-7th). The only concern was the anemic Offense (.256 BA-28th) .They only hit .250 in the playoffs with a S-22 playoff worst 105 strikeouts. But what propelled them to the Championship was the long ball. Ehulls "hit it far or miss guys" smacked 73 homers ,second to only the Salmonbellies. Looks like great pitching and homeruns are the recipe to World Series Championships. In the off-season Ehull first re-signed Teddy Buckley and let Nelson and Karnuth go to free agency. He released Valdes and lost Pena on the waiver wire. The Champs needed to fill some holes and they started by signing Lopez, Stahoviak , Torres and traded for Guthrie. Burlington swapped players Karnuth and Torres with me. Time will tell who got the best of the exchange. But picking up a player with Championship DNA in Guthrie may help the Coat Factories 3-peat. This team is still intact with a few good replacements. Ehulls Dreadnought Coat Factories are still the Favotite to win this years Series. PREDICTION:105-57
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LAST YEARS RECORD:83-79
LAST YEARS 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.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 a rebuild, this team could make it to the post season.PREDICTION:90-72
OUT: Pasqual Perez , Javier Flores , Rex Maxwell , Chris James , Jae Yamaguchi , Harry Vega , R.J. Roque , Junior Okajima , Adam Hamilton , Claudio Schmidt , Alex Outman , Jorge Fernandez
IN: Yank Hill , Jae Kojima , Grant LaRocca , Miguel Martis , Javier Manzanillo , Albert Sandoval , Yannick Earley , Gene Weston , Miguel Baez , Gorkys Soriano
JEFF'S PREVIEW: The Red Lights for a 2nd straight season seemed to under perform.Last season started with a 4-16 record and it was up hill from there. They still finished with a winning record of 83-79 for the 6th spot in the playoffs. The Reds beat Madison in 4 and the lost to the champs in 4.Chris James wanted greener grass, Rex Maxwell Javier Flores were let go for draft picks. Pasqual Perez Jae Yamaguchi were shown the door. And it's not an offseason without some trades.Knowing what James was going to cost as well as the other FA pitchers the first goal was to get another ace. Gene Weston was the target. Yannick Earley was added in for Junior Okajima and MVP candidate R.J. Roque. Adam Hamilton was moved to clear some cap. Needing some more power Miguel Baez was added for a couple of relievers. Now needing bullpen help, Jorge Fernandez was traded for Gorkys Soriano .Yank Hill was added to take over the SS duties, Miguel Martis glove was added, hoping that Javier Manzanillo can keep up the production he has had the last 2 seasons.Grant LaRocca and Jae Kojima added to finish out the pen. All in all some good pieces added and some let go. I think I've doomed this team, its going to be pretty ugly in Cincinnati. Well be lucky to win 60.
PREVIEW: Jeff's Red Light Districts took a slight step back last year, but it was still good enough for the #6 seed in the playoffs. Cincinnati shocked the up and coming Madison Muskellunges in the first round. But then they really didn't have enough to beat the defending champs in the DCS. Last season the Jeffs guys had great pitching (4.13 ERA-5th), good hitting (.274 BA-11th) and defense( 91 errors, .985 FPct-11th). In the off-season Jeff let Perez, Flores, Maxwell, James, Yamaguchi go to free agency and released Vega outright. Then he held a auction and traded away Roque, Okajima, Hamilton, Schmidt, Outman and Fernandez. With half the roster to fill, Jeff signed free agents Hill, Kojima, LaRocca, Martis, Manzanillio, Sandoval. The trades brought in Earley, Weston, Baez and Soriano. Cincinatti let or traded some talent but the trades brought in some really nice players. Can the Red Light Districts return to glory? You have to trust Jeff's track record and couple that with the tough division in projecting this team. It's a tough call but this team will be in the wild-card hunt.PREDICTION:89-73
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LAST YEARS RECORD:75-87
LAST YEARS 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.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
OUT: Casey Graham , Dude Long
IN: Julio Johnson
PREVIEW: The Moose weren't the most improved as predicted but they did improve 13 games from S-21. They won 75 games with good pitching (4.42 ERA-12th) . But like last year the hitting (.251 BA-31st) and defense (142 errors, .977 FPct-31st) was nearly the worst in Wrigleyville. The addition of 1st round draft pick Charles Yamamoto and IFA Pedro Olmedo will help Rugby fix these deficiencies in the future. In the off-season Rugby let Graham go to free agency and released Long outright. He only had one roster spot open and traded for a good SP in Johnson. The Moose are still a young team with 28.6 avg age and only 3.7 avg ML years. With some very nice prospects in AAA this team should be competative soon .Is this that year? let me see what my Magic 8-ball says. "Concentrate and ask again"........ well that didn't help me. PREDICTION: 84-78
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LAST YEARS RECORD:74-88
LAST YEARS 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.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
OUT: Hi Shea , Javier Manzanillo , Ernest Truman , Travis Hocking , Kevin Martin , Orlando Lee , Hi Shea , Tuck Simmons , Kimera Oliver , Matt Kreuter , Al Fernandez , Doc Hampton , Daric Washington , Horacio Benitez , Jackie Guthrie
IN: Brian Dickinson , Albert Santos , Jose Bonilla , Al Vincente , Mo Andrelczyk , Jack Stewart , Jim Speaker
PREVIEW: Ralphs Crabs won 74 games....and thats respectable for a re-build. The Temporary Santurce Crabbers had below average hitting (.270 BA-22nd) pitching (5.09 ERA-26th) and defense (11 errors, .982 FPct-21st) . San Juan did add 1st round pick Kyle Stevens to the farm system and picked up B.C. Gonzales amongst many others in the IFA. I'm watching Ralph closely and learning how to build a winner. In the off-season Ralph re-signed Tyrone Handworth ,Ben Borland and let Shea, Borland, Manzanillo, Truman, Hocking, Martin, Lee, Shea go to free agency. He released Simmons, Oliver, Krueter, Fernandez, Hampton, Washington and Benitez. Ralph then traded away Guthrie to the Champs. The Crabbers have to field a team so they claimed Dickinson and Santos off the wire and signed free agents Bonilla, Vincente, Andrelczyk and Stewart. Finally San Juan promoted Speaker to the Bigs. This is a Re-build and Ralph is just plugging in temporary players to get him through the season. He has lots and lots of money to spend on his High School draft picks and tasty IFA's. PREDICTION:70-92
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