 |
| ||||||
LAST YEARS RECORD:86-76(Division Winner)
LAST YEARS PREVIEW: Hattons Sometimes did battle for the division and won it with a 84-78 record. They accomplished this with average hitting (.266 BA-15th, 813 runs-15th) , average pitching (4.54 ERA-17th, 1.34 WHIP-9th) and average fielding (101 errors-18th, .983 FPct-18th). Average indeed! Average Charlotte went into the playoffs as the #4 seed and spanked the 95 win Moonbats. Then in the DCS they played the #1 seeded Salmonbellies. It didn't go well, they were swept in 3 games.The signing of Baez will bring in more homers and runs,but they lost some pitching. Hatton and his Sometimes have the fortune to play in one of the weaker divisions and are the favorites to win it. But the Blues are improved and may take the pennant from them. Charlotte has to win the division because there will be no wildcard from the A L South. PREDICTION:86-76 (Division Winner)
OUT: Garry Olsen , Luther Rapp
IN: Rock Hayes , Destin Brow
PREVIEW: It was a close race down to the last few games and Charlotte won the division by 1 game. But it wasn't the Blues that fought Hatton, it was the surprising Moonshiners and Tabaky Farmers. The Sometimes won 86 games with the 3rd ranked defense in the American League. This helped the pitching rank near the top in 6th but the hitting was lackluster finishing in 10th out of 16 teams. In the post-season Hattons bunch got by the Moonshiners in the first round but lost to the Bruins in the DCS. In the off-season Olsen,Rapp,Garcia and Figureoa go to free agency with hatton re-signing Steve Garcia and Pedro Figureoa. With only two spots open Hatton signed free agents Hayes and Brow. Olsen and Rapp were on the decline and Hatton replaced them with 2 low-level free agents. This is still the same team as last year just a little weaker.I think they will miss the playoffs PREDICTION:82-80
 |
| ||||||
LAST YEARS RECORD:85-77(Wild Card)
LAST YEARS PREVIEW: The Moonshiners finished about where we thought here at the WHIF. When the room stopped spinning and the little green leprechauns disappeared , Dmann was left with 67 wins. Drinking heavily will do that, I know. The drunken Arkansonians had wobbly hitting (.251 BA-29th, 723 runs-23rd) , , inebriated pitching (4.98 ERA-27th, 1.43 WHIP-20th) and stumbling defense (101 errors-19th, .983 FPct-19th).Dmann improved his team a little and he still has about 10 million in AAA contracts thanks to the previous owner. This is one of the youngest teams and they will get better.Maybe it's this year??? Odds are it's still a year or two away. PREDICTION:78-84
OUT: Enrique Alfonseca , Omar Hartman , Claudio Schmidt , Jerome Aumont , Ismael Galvez , Quinton Womack , Matt Fedroff
IN: Tony Guillon , Juan Mota , Vernon Nickle , Darron Collins , Glendon Henley
PREVIEW: The Moonshiners bucked the odds last year and won 85 games to grab a wild-card berth. Of all the stats that I looked at from last year the reason the Moonshiners won so many games was SPEED!. They led Wrigleyville in Stolen bases with 258. If you played them last year you'd better have a stout catcher or get run on.Speaking of Speed! In the playoffs they were quickly bested in the first roundby their division foe Charlotte. Speaking of Running! Dmann ran out of here after one year like the Dwomann was looking for her alimony. Bobd4967 agreed to step in if he could move the team to his home near New Orleans. He didn't want to stray to far from his favorite brothel and restaurants.Same Building. In the off-season Bob re-signed Ruben Rosario and let Alfonseca, Hartman, Schmidt and Aumont go to free agency. He released Galvez and Womack and traded away Fedroff. Bobd signed free agents Guillon, Mota and Nickle and picked up Collins and Henley in the R-5. Same song as last year , New Orleans has the best speed and base running ratings in the A L. Will Bob make em run?? If he does they will win 80+ games. But it's a long shot. PREDICTION: 81-81
 |
| ||||||
LAST YEARS RECORD:84-78
LAST YEARS PREVIEW: Nwsheehy's Tabaky farmers have fallen on rough times. I predicted they would finish in the middle of the AL ,but they were nearer the bottom. Charleston fans eyes were filled with tears, and with good reason. This team had acrimonious hitting (.256 BA-28th, 743 runs-23rd) , pitching (5.04 ERA-28th, 1.52 WHIP-28th) and defense (112 errors-26th, ..981 FPct-28th).The Tabaky Farmers promoted Taylor Allen , Nelson Webb and Douglas Bolton last year. They alone with their improved numbers will make this a better team . Charleston is just a couple of good players from making the playoffs. Right now they are a 75 win team but could add some players during the season and make a run for the division.PREDICTION:75-87
OUT: Rheal Scott , Aurelio Mercado , Vic Cervelli , Haywood Leslie , Alex Serra , Juan Vazquez , Taylor Allen
IN: Benji Martin , Vin Serra , Jake Dietrich , Ronald Carter , Michael Green
NWSHEEHY'S PREVIEW: I was surprised by my team’s finish last year, one win away from the Wild Card.The biggest move in the off-season was trading away Taylor Allen. I think he will be a great 3B in the future. All good trades are painful, but I think Ronald Carter and Michael Green will add a lot offensively. My pitching did not improve,and I fear that aging made it worse. Tony Wood needs to have a better year (18 losses last year) and former 1st round selection Douglas Bolton needs to figure out ML hitting. In the end, I see a lot of 8-7 scores this year. I just hope I have the 8.
PREVIEW: The Tabaky Farmers did make a run at the division and almost won it finishing 2 games back. It was bad luck that they didn't get a wild-card but they did make it a very interesting in the last week. Former World Series Champ Nwsheehy won 84 games last year with Average hitting (9th in the A L) and pitching (10th in the A L). If They could have done better on defense (15th out of 16 teams in the A L ) they may have won the division. In the off-season Scott, Mercado and Cervelli went to free agency. Leslie, Serra, Vasquez were released and Taylor was traded to the Moose. To fill the holes Nwsheehy signed free agents Martin and Serra and picked up Dietrich in the R-5. And in one of the biggest off-season trades he brought in Carter and Green. Nwsheehy got 2 players for Allen but Green will soften the loss. I wasn't thrilled with Carter due to his sub-50 pitch call rating. But he will be a beast at the plate.Charleston likes to hit em hard and this years team is no different. I think they will win the division. PREDICTION:90-72(Division Winner)
 |
| ||||||
LAST YEARS RECORD:78-84
LAST YEARS PREVIEW: The Blues finished 3 games above my prediction of 75 wins. Tchagnon's guys had the #3 hitting squad with a batting average of .284 and scored 880 runs (6th).That's the good news, now for the bad. The pitching (5.30 ERA-30th, 1.51 WHIP-27th) and defense (120 errors-29th, .981 FPct-29th)was terrible.It's obvious the that the offense couldn't overcome the pitching and defense.Santa Fe has one of the younger teams in Wrigleyville. And many players have improved with another year in the bag.I think the Blues finish above .500 and It's just a matter of time before they make the post-season. They have a good shot at winning this weak division.Could this be their year?? PREDICTION:85-77
OUT: Len Hawkins , Phillip Rhodes , Rex Maxwell , Eswalin Canseco , Felix Ming
IN: Wade Harris , Alexi Rios , R.J. Roque , Chad Jones , Louie Rodriguez
PREVIEW: I really thought that TC's Blues had a team that would take the next step by winning the division and finish above .500. But they are stuck on 78 wins and it was due to the same problem as last year. The pitching (15th in the A L) was so bad that even a great offense (#1 in the A L) couldn't overcome it. In the off-season Hawkins, Rhodes, Maxwell and Canseco left for free agency and Ming was traded away. TC went to the free agent market and spent 30.3 million on free agents Harris, Rios, Roque, Jones and Rodriguez. If the Blues win the division it won't be for the lack of trying. TC broke out his checkbook and is going for it! OK... TC... I'll buy in...with the influx of veterans to go with the talented youngsters you can pencil in the Blues in for a wild-card spot. PREDICTION:88-74(Wild Card)
No comments:
Post a Comment