AT THE BREAK N L EAST SEASON 25

Cincinnati Red Light District

RECORD:59-32

PREVIEW:  In the off-season Jeff re-signed Buzz Person and  Miguel Martis and let Leonard, Mauer, LaRocca and Dupler go to free agency. He then traded away Galvez and Giovanola. With some holes to fill, Jeff signed free agents Ruth, Javier, Gil,Schoendiest and Zurbaran. Then brought in Melendez and Outman through trades.Look out fellas!! The RLD's are greatly improved with quality free agents and savy trades. Jeff did a great job picking up talent from the old Coat Factories and others. This team will win the division easily and will go deep in the playoffs.PREDICTION: 102-60 (Div Winner)

AT THE BREAK: About 30 games into the season I was freaking out. The Red Light Districts were a distant 3rd with the Crabbers and Moose leading the way. But my prediction of a Cincy division win is looking better. Right now they are on track to win 105 games with the Moose on their heels. Jeff's guys can hit the cover off the ball. They have a batting average of .280 (2nd best) and 884 hits (3rd best). The pitching staff sport the 2nd best ERA (3.50) and have allowed the 2nd fewest runs (339). The defense is good also ,only 49 errors and 40+ plays to 19- plays. Cincinnati has a solid team that has very few weaknesses . I don't want to face them in the playoffs.

Syracuse Moose

RECORD:57-34

PREVIEW:  In the off-season Rugby let Brow and Terry go to free agency. Then he promoted Green as the only addition so far. At the time of this writing Rugby has only 22 guys on his M L roster. And the AAA Cupboard is still full of tasty little Meese's such as Daniel Marshall , Charles Yamamoto , Ugueth Duran, Lance Bailey and Javier Megias. He didn't call them up last year and I would like to think he will call some up this year. Until I see it, I'm not ready to go out on a limb like last year and pick them to maybe win the division.When all his kids come of age ....look out! PREDICTION:89-73

AT THE BREAK: Sure Rugby......now they play!! I've been touting the Moose for 2 years now and they always let me down. I still predicted them to win 89 games and they are on a pace to win 101. they have a good shot at winning this division and at least a wild card if they don't. They have a power hitting team with 145 homers (2nd best) and have the second best OBP (.344). They get em on and homer em in....Nice! Pitching ERA is 3rd best (3.76) and the WHIP (1.19) is 2nd best. defensively they are good with only 56 errors committed with 47+ plays and 15- plays. Man........this team is good and will only get better as the youngsters reach their projections. Rugby's Moose are Loose again!


San Juan Santurce Crabbers

RECORD:47-44

PREVIEW:  In the off-season he re-signed Luis Gil , Pat Shelley and let Stewart, Piedra, MacDougal and Osoria go to free agency. He released Kraemer and Jenkins. Ralph claimed Greisinger and promoted Pineda. Finally he added Milton from the R-5 draft. Not much to talk about here, Ralph will continue to add prospects from the IFA and draft. Meanwhile Ralph will be on the beach in his speedo scoping out the Honeys. What a life !! PREDICTION:55-107

AT THE BREAK: Ralph stripped off his speedo and streaked thru my prediction. Shocking! The Crabbers showed some life by getting out of the gate fast and actually led this division for much of the year. They since have cooled off a little and are on pace to win 84 games while body sliding on my 55 win prediction. San Juan's pitching is pretty good this year with a ERA of 4.23 (5th) and a WHIP of 1.43 (10th). Offensively they lead the league in stolen bases (124) and are third in doubles (154). The secret to their success is speed on the bases and good pitching. Whatever gets Ralph to put his clothes back on is fine with me.

Wichita Wind Sizzlers

RECORD:36-55

PREVIEW:  In the off-season Zsiegri re-signed Don Lim and let Rivera, Dawley, Gil, Javier, Amaral, James, Santiago, Torres and Lopez go to free agency. He released Fernandez and traded away Acosta, Allen, Romero,Dillion,Campos and Roque. Finally Kinkade was claimed off the wire to complete the purge. With no team left, Zsiegri has allot of work to do. He claimed Rosario and signed free agents Alvarez ,Nix ,Craddock ,Lansing ,Oliver ,Hyzdu ,Vaughn ,Dupler ,McNamara ,Sullivan,Mota and Valenzuela. Then he traded for Espinosa, Cabeza, Mullen, Webber, Dixon,Guthrie and Tabaka. This is the end of a dynasty. The Burlington Coat Factories are the only team to go back-to back-to back in Wrigleyville. And all the key players have been scattered to the Wind and have been replaced by so-so players.  Witchita has many first round picks in the draft and will stock the farm system. Thus starts a re-build and they should finish with a 70'ish win total.PREDICTION: 75-87

AT THE BREAK: Not gonna spend any time on the stats with Wichita in a re-build. Zsiegri's guys are on track to win 64 ganmes and beat the MWR minimum. The big story is the fact that He had 10 first round picks in the draft with 9 signing on the dotted line. (Hugh Thomas , Robert McMichael , Felipe Lee , Al Bennett , Robin Henry , Jhoulys Rodriguez , Marquis Simpson , Tracy Burns , Steven Webb ). He also picked up Jose Martinez in the IFA market. In 4-6 years this team will be very good, the farm system is stacked with tasty prospects.