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LAST YEARS RECORD:102-60
LAST YEARS PREVIEW: Mdymonds Salmonbellies finished with the best record in season 23. But they they lost a little ground last year with 99 wins. I wish my team had that problem.....LOL. Last year Salem still had great hitting (.281 BA-5th) , pitching (3.97 ERA, 1.31 WHIP-6th) and defense (79 errors, .987 FPct-5th). The Salmonbellies scored more runs (1,011) and hit more homers (320) than any team last year. They went into the playoffs as the 1st wildcard team and lost in 5 to the up-and-coming Redtails.Salem doesn't have good contact hitters, but they have power.Defensively the Salmonbellies are solid and won't embarrass. The pitching rotation has the best splits in the AL but the bullpen is much weaker. This means the Salmon bellies will be a strong team and may give up some leads late. PREDICTION:97-65
OUT: Felipe Zurbaran , Victor Ramirez , Gill Laffey
IN: Yorvit Campos
PREVIEW: Mdymonds Salmonbellies finished 5 games above my prediction with great defense (81 errors-5th, .987 FPct-4th) and power hitting ( 357 homers-1st, .274 BA-8th). Imagine how good Salem would have been if they had better pitching (4.47 ERA-15th). Still they made the playoffs as the #1 seed and parlayed that into a ALCS visit. Where they met the #2 Bruins and lost in 6 games. In the off-season Mdymond let Zurbaran, Ramirez and Laffey go to free agency. Then he traded for Campos. The loss of Ramirez will hurt, and Mdymond traded for a Burlington pitcher to improve his staff. He still has 2 roster spots open and may promote Nicholas Lombardi and Livan Torcato or someone else. He has options and that's always a plus.The Slmonbellies will be challenged by Vancouver but are the favorite to win the division.PREDICTION:98-64 (Division Winner)
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LAST YEARS RECORD:95-67
LAST YEARS PREVIEW: Yep...it was a three team race and the Moonbats won 98 games with #2 offense in Wrigleyville (.286 BA). Sordies Mashers were second only to Salem with 308 homers. Helena had good pitching (4.16 ERA, 1.38 WHIP-10th) and average defense (93 errors, .985FPct-14th) last year. The sum total gave them the 2nd wildcard spot and they went all the way to the DCS. There they lost a tough 5th game to the Bruins.This is the same Sordies mashers with a couple tweaks. And Sordie Knows Tweakers. The Barking Monnbats wil hit the ball very well and Win at least a wildcard berth.PREDICTION:95-67
OUT: Fernando Urbina , Matt Kreuter , Jeffrey Moreno , Miguel Duran , Miguel Lind , Cesar Melendez
IN: Keith Aurilia , Vladimir Santiago , Spud Kraemer , Eduardo Delgado , Jarrod Griffith , Matt Gibbons , Jumbo MacFarlane , Hooks Giovanola
PREVIEW: Sordies Moonbats finished exactly where I predicted. They also grabbed a wildcard and faced off against a formidable Charlotte squad. They gave it all they had and lost a tough 5th game. That my friends, is the end of Sordie and the Helena Moonbats. I for one will miss his wry humor and wit. But he was unhappy and for the good of the league ,it was best he move on. I heard he bought a Feline Ranch near the gate of the mountains. He wrote me a postcard and said. "If you think HBD is hard.Try herding cats!!. Blitzcomin took over this team and moved them to my old stomping ground of Vancouver. I hope my failures in that grand city don't sour his acceptance. Them Canuks are good fans but they demand a winner. In the off-season Blitz let Urbina, Krueter, Moreno, Duran, Lind go to free agency and traded away Melendez. He claimed Aurilia off the wire and signed free agents Santiago, Kraemer and Delgado. Then he picked up Griffith in the R-5 and the earlier trades brought in Gibbons, MacFarlane and Giovanola. The Blitz have one of the best pitching teams in the AL and have a top 5 power team to boot. The Defense is a little lacking but it won't matter much. This team may win the division but will need help from Salem. Probably will win a wildcard with Richmond and Minnesota in the mix. PREDICTION:92-70 (Wildcard)
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LAST YEARS RECORD:78-84
LAST YEARS PREVIEW: Swish's Cobras beat my prediction easily with 104 wins. They did this with the #1 ranked hitting team (.290 BA), the #2 defensive squad (69 errors,.989 FPct) and the 4th ranked pitching team (3.46 ERA, 1.22 WHIP). This is why they had the best record in the American League and why they won the A L league Championship. In the Series they met up with the Coat Factories and lost in 5 games.Swish kept a core of key players and got rid of the rest. With a bunch of Shrewed trades, Swish re-loaded the farm system with tasty prospects. He had some cash and signed several bargain players to keep the Cobras in the mix. I think Arizona took a little step back in talent but set themselves up for the future. PREDICTION:96-66
OUT: Eduardo Delgado , Thom Wright , Chad Catalanotto , Corey O'Brien , Felix Gao , J.J. Lansing , Louis Little , Juan Marmol
IN: Cleatus Canseco , Turk Wallace , Gavin Everidge , Gill Laffey , Del Martin , Albert Bernadina
PREVIEW: Swish may have hit my 96 win prediction but a couple of weeks before the All-Star break he sent out this message. " ship be sinkin'. That's all it took. He traded several players for prospects and the ones that stayed, gave it a good go and won 78 games. In the off-season Swish re-signed Bernie Richard and Johnny Stone and let Delgado, Wright, Catalanotto, O'Brien, Gao and Lansing go to free agency. He traded away Little and Marmol. Then he claimed Canseco off the wire and signed free agents Wallace, Everidge, Laffey and Martin.Finally Bernadina was brought in from a earlier trade to complete the roster. Right now the Cobras look like a sub .500 team and Swish still has 20 million in surplus cap space. Couple that with a max 20 million prospect budget, makes me lean towards a re-tool season for Arizona. look for Swish to chase some IFA's and build his farm system. Ship be afloat soon!! PREDICTION:81-81
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LAST YEARS RECORD:64-98
LAST YEARS PREVIEW: Groger totally dismantled this team then disappeared into the Wyoming wilderness. There has been an occasional sighting of a man deep in the Wind River Range. One Dubois resident said that he came upon a dirty hairy man dressed in animal hides chewing on a rotting elk carcass. The witness also stated that the man ran away screaming.."Coach hiring...coach hiring bad!!!" Whether or not it's Groger hasn't been established. But it sounds like the mysterious person was exposed to some of the seedier sides of What If sports. Sonneboy was good enough to come back to Wrigleyville and pick up the pieces of the Bagwell Bashers. Sorry about what I wrote when you left Sonneboy. Good to have you back.All the additions were low level free agents and waiver wire pick-ups. The promotion of Ramsey is the only addition of note. The Bagwell Bashers are looking to the draft and IFA to re-build this team. PREDICTION: 60-102
OUT: Harry Vega , Ricky Mann , Peter Hodges , Rico Mateo , Thom Gates , Daric Washington , Edgar Martinez , Tony LeCroy , Jamie Yang , Geoff Hughes , Roosevelt Rapp , Dante Swindell , Luis Cortes
IN: Jerry Parkinson , Kelvin George , Billy Ensberg , Josh Parker , Nick McConnell , Mark Brock , Glenn Rothschild , Jerrod Evans , Brooks Sweeney , Sal Glass , Nipsey Thompson , Neifi Lopez , Orlando Garces , Juan Lopez
PREVIEW: No surprise here. Sonneboy and his Bagwell Bashers are in a re-build and won only 64 games.I think if my memory serves me , Causeneau replaced Sonneboy in the middle of last year after Sonneboy ran off with a stripper. He told me: "Mad, she has a ass like a Onion. Makes you wanna Cry!" Regardless, Cheyenne did pick up Yunel Diaz in the IFA market and drafted Cesar Limon and Walter Ziegler in the first round. In the off-season Causeneau let Vega, Mann, Hodges,Mateo, Gates and Washington go to free agency. He released Martinez, Lecroy,Yang, Hughs and waived Rapp, Swindell and Cortes. Causeneau then claimed Parkinson off the wire and signed free agents George, Ensberg, Parker, McConnell and Brock. He picked up Rothschild, Evans, Sweeny,Glass, Thompson,N Lopez, Garces and J Lopez in the R-5 draft. The signing of Ensberg alone will improve a teams offensive numbers. But this team with a half dozen R-5's has along ways to go to be competitive. With the 3rd pick in the draft and 20 million in the prospect kitty the Bagwell bashers will pick up some talent. Still a re-build year. PREDICTION: 67-95
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