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LAST YEARS RECORD:95-67(Division Winner)
LAST YEARS 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)
OUT: Roger Serrano , Clayton Bragg , Vin Serra , Brutus Sheffield
IN: Santo Ugueto , Willie Sosa , Eric Workman , Antonio Cora , Harold Grudzielanek , Gerald Edwards
NWSHEEHY'S PREVIEW: Real happy with last year's performance, but not as pleased with the post-season performance. I lost a great vet in Roger Serrano , but the future was just too bright to hold onto the past.Promoting Eric Workman and Willie Sosa will add youth, defense, and power to an already potent offense. The glaring problem is pitching. Without much cap room, I had to add three pitchers from the Rule 5 draft.My bullpen is suspect and I am short one starting pitcher. Hopefully Jake Dietrich will hold up. Thinking of my beloved SF Giants, I just want to make it to the post-season and then anything can happen.
PREVIEW: Nwsheehy's Tabaky Farmers were smoking last year and they also won the division with 95 wins.They do everything well with good hitting (.280 BA-3rd AL), pitching (4.34 ERA-5th AL) and defense (.987 FPCT-3rd AL). In the post-season the Wacky Tabacky's had a first round bye then got wacked by the A L Champion Salmonbellies in the DCS. This is the second year in a row this team got a bye and then lost in the DCS. It isn't easy to win in the post-season and this team is in their prime and needs to stay the course. In the off-season Nwsheehy let Serrano, Bragg, Serra, Sheffield go to free agency. He signed free agent Ugueto and promoted Sosa and Workman.He picked up Cora , Grudzielanek and Edwards in the R-5. Not really thrilled with any of the R-5 players but the 2 youngsters promoted will be studs. The free agent bullpen guy is good but not sure he can pitch very many innings to make a difference. The core of this team is pretty good and the 2 youngsters will improve this team. Charlotte and Santa Fe will be on their heels but they should win the division again. PREDICTION:96-66(Division Winner)
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LAST YEARS RECORD:87-75
LAST YEARS 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
OUT: Buzz Person , Destin Brow , Walt Lieberthal , Brad Cogan , Gerry Abbott , Ernie Cannon , Britt Lukasiewicz
IN: Vance Kendall , Carlos Gomez , Jonathan Valdes , Luis Fernandez , Juan Fernandez , Bert Nathan , Marshall Winn
PREVIEW: The Sometimes had a good year with 87 wins and lost the tiebreaker for the final wildcard berth. Hatton's team bounced back from last years 77 win season with the 2nd best pitching staff in the AL (4.25 ERA). They also had the second best defensive team (.988FPct) but the Some in the Times was the hitting, ranked 12th in the A L (.267 BA). In the off-season Hatton let Person, Brow, Lieberthal, Cogan, Abbott , Cannon go to free agency and released Lukasiewicz. He signed free agents Kendall, Gomez, Valdes, L Fernandez, J Fernandez, Nathan and Winn. Hatton has a core of good players that make decent money and when he saved some money on releasing Lukasiewicz during Arbitration. He had some extra cash to shop for some roll players to put around his regulars. Charlottes pitching will be one of the best in the A L and while Kendall, Gomez and J Fernandez were brought in to help the struggling offense . They are not real difference makers. The Sometimes will be a above .500 team but will need the Tabaky Farmers to fail in order to make the playoffs.. PREDICTION:85-77
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LAST YEARS RECORD:84-78
LAST YEARS 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)
OUT: Bob Liverman , Peter Hodges , Chad Jones , Phillip Rhodes , Juan Fernandez
IN: Vin Serra , Darron Moses , Len Hawkins
PREVIEW: The Blues took a step back after last years wildcard year with only 84 wins. Santa Fe always fields one of the best hitting teams and hopes the pitching will be good enough. Last year TC's team was the best offensive team in Wrigleyville with 970 runs scored and a batting average of .294. But they gave up 906 runs with the 3rd worst ERA in Wrigleyville (5.22). Some pitching would get this team to the playoffs and beyond! In the off-season TC let Liverman, Hodges, Jones, Rhodes and Fernandez go to free agency. He signed free agents Serra, Moses and Hawkins. Pitching will still be the problem in Santa Fe , Serra and Hawkins aren't real difference makers. The Hitting will have to overcome and they are good enough to maybe get this team back to the playoffs. But only as a wildcard.PREDICTION:85-77
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LAST YEARS RECORD:75-87
LAST YEARS 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
OUT: Len Hawkins , Graeme Quinn , Glen Craddock , Albert Sandoval , Alex Johnson , Cristian Satou , Andres Lorenzo , Tim Perry , Robert Adkins
IN: Bengie Torres , Kenshin Suzuki , Derek Whitesell , Jamie Saito , Vic Perez , Nick Orie , Omar Sanches
PREVIEW: Bob lasted 2 years with this team but never got over Dadgummit the Mule's demise. He could be heard behind the locked door of his office crying "Dadgummit Why?" over and over again. I have cried and lamented over the loss of some good ass before, so i can relate. Donmossi bought the team after he came in to a ton of cash selling his Bryophyte business. I didn't know Decorative Moss was so popular. In the off-season Donmossi re-signed Ruben Rosario and let Hawkins, Quinn, Craddock, Sandoval and Johnson go to free agency. He released Satou, Lorenzo, Perry and Adkins. Donmossi signed free agent Torres , promoted Suzuki and picked up Whitsell, Saito, Perez, orie and Sanches in the R-5 draft.This is a classic let players go that want to leave and release the rest. Then fill the holes with low-level free agents and R-5 players. Looks like a re-build for new owner Donmossi and he has 40+ million to transfer to prospect money. Look for this team to sign some top level IFA prospects and win 60-70 games. Watch the Moss grow in St Louis.PREDICTION:65-97
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