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LAST YEARS RECORD:96-66
LAST YEARS 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.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)
OUT: Ricardo Amaral , Tony LeCroy , Tony Wood
IN: Christian Funaki
PREVIEW: It was a easy call picking the Tabaky Farmers as division champs. They showed signs of improvement last year and are back to post-season form. Last years Durocher winner ,Nwsheehy, found his team in the playoffs as the #2 seed. And it looked as if he would go far when he was matched against the 83 win Bruins. But the HBD gods were unkind and the Tabaky Farmers were smoked in 4 games. In the off-season Nwsheehy let Amaral, LeCroy, Wood go to free agency and picked up Funaki in the R-5. The Tabaky Farmers are here to stay. And they should even get better with time and the promotion of Willie Sosa from AAA, whenever that may be.PREDICTION:94-68(Division Winner)
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LAST YEARS RECORD:93-69
LAST YEARS 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.TC went to the free agent market and spent 30.3 million on free agents Harris, Rios, Roque, Jones and Rodriguez. If the Blues don't 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)
OUT: Stubby King , Rheal Scott , Kris Karros , Al Acosta
IN: Esteban Guzman , Pedro Estrada , Von Walter
PREVIEW: TC has done a great job with the Blues. By adding several good free agents to the youngsters already there. This team did win a Wild-Card as predicted and damn near won the division. They went into the playoffs as a #5 seed and faced the 83 win Red Tails in the first round. Where they won a game 5 on the road and faced the eventual champs in the DCS. They did give the Blitz all they could handle but couldn't win another road game 5. Nice run though. In the off-season TC let King, Scott, Karros go to free agency and released Acosta. He signed free agent Guzman and promoted Estrada and Walters. TC upgraded his catching with the addition of perennial All-Star Guzman .And he brought up 2 very nice pitching prospects to solidify the rotation.They may have enough to overtake Charleston, but my guess is they will be a wild-card team.PREDICTION:92-70(Wild-Card)
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LAST YEARS RECORD:81-81
LAST YEARS 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 round by 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.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
OUT: Juan Mota , Julio Castillo , Vernon Nickle , Tony Guillon , Jamie Miyakazi , Yorvit Diaz
IN: Albert Sandoval , Graeme Quinn , Len Hawkins , Glen Craddock , Alex Cheung , Donaldo Tatis
PREVIEW: The Rebels finished exactly as predicted.....81-81. And Bob did run em with 206 SB last year. Then Bob's friend and companion ,Dadgummit the Mule, passed away. So Bob up and moved his team to Richmond to escape the grief. Dadgummit was a Damn good Ass after all. In the off-season Bob re-signed Ruben Rosario and let Mota, Castillo, Nickle, Guillon , Miyakazi go to free agency and released Diaz. He signed free agents Sandoval, Quinn,Hawkins,Craddock,Cheung and picked up Tatis in the R-5. Last years team was poor defensively and offensively. The additions will help but Charleston and Santa Fe are pretty good. They may compete for a wild-card but I don't think they will make the post-season.PREDICTION:84-78
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LAST YEARS RECORD:77-85
LAST YEARS 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.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
OUT: Rock Hayes , Scott Cookson , Jonathan Valdes
IN: Walt Lieberthal , Pedro Owen , Buzz Person
PREVIEW: Hattons Sometimes did miss the playoffs as predicted in last years preview.His team was 13 games behind Charleston at the All-Star break and never came close to making the post-season. Charlotte did add some prospects in the draft (Scooter Spiezio , Javier Cortez , Lance Little , William Tobin). The youngsters should help get this team right in a few years. In the off-season Hatton re-signed Al Carrasco , Coco West , Destin Brow , Ernie Cannon and let Hayes, Cookson and Valdez go to free agency. He signed free agents Lieberthal,Owens,Person to fill his line-up. None of the additions really standout to me and that would make me say they are a near .500 club. But there are some interesting prospects in AAA like Bill Robbins and Miguel Rosario. If they get the call-up who knows ?? PREDICTION:81-81
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