N L WEST PREVIEW SEASON 25

Scottsdale Schizoids (NL) madmuldoon View Hardball Dynasty Profile

LAST YEARS RECORD:91-71

LAST YEARS PREVIEW:  Things didn't go as planned last season for my Zoids. I improved this team in every catagory but they still finished below .500. We won 78 games with Great defense (73 errors,.988 FPct-3rd) good pitching (4.23 ERA, 1.43 WHIP-11th) and average hitting (.271 BA-11th). My team seemed to be good in all 3 parts of this game, maybe it's the fact we only scored 735 runs.I never thought I'd pay 20 million for a player .....but I did. I let several long time Ziod pitchers go to free agency and decided to replace them with 1 really good one and promote Rob Warner from the farm after 25 games. I also lost my catching corp and replaced them with a DITR and a R-5 pick-up. If the 20 million dollar man...Lawrence works out and Warner has a good rookie season....maybe the Zoids give the Utes and Bandits a run for their money. Big IF's .PREDICTION: 84-78

OUT: Rolando Valenzuela , Howard Allen , Willie Burgess , Miguel Tabaka

IN:  Mariano Rivera, Santo Prieto

PREVIEW: My Zoids started out slow and it was apparent early that my team needed some hitting. I traded for Ollie Greenwood and Larry Walker before the break. Then traded for Jack Shave before the deadline. These moves were the reason my guys tied the Utes with 91 wins and won the tiebreaker for the division pennant. Last year my team had great defense (79 errors-4th, .987 FPct-4th) and pitching (4.02 ERA-7th, 1.35 WHIP-10th) . My hitting finished below average after a terrible start (.266 BA-17th ,716 runs-28th). The only thing good about my hitting was the 255 doubles, which was 6th in the league.We went into the playoffs as the #4 seed but was trounced by Wylie's City Limits in 4 . In the off-season I re-signed Edinson Trinidad and Blake Hughes and let Valenzuela , Allen and Burgess go to free agency. Then I waived Tabaka to make room on my 25 man roster. To replace Allen and Tabaka I signed free agents Rivera and Prieto. This is the same good pitching and defensive team as last year. It's also the same hitting team that for some reason could only score 716 runs. Several of my pickups last year came after my offense started out near the bottom. Hopefully a full season together will fix the scoring problem. It will be a battle with the Utes for the division and it's a toss-up who will be atop at the end of the year. I think we are capable of at least getting a wild-card spot.PREDICTION: 93-69(Wild Card)

Salt Lake City Utes (NL) hoopcoach07 View Hardball Dynasty Profile

LAST YEARS RECORD:91-71

LAST YEARS PREVIEW:  When I was writing last years preview on the Utes I could see this team had a ton of talent. With the re-build going on in San Francisco it was a easy call to pick them as division winners.They won 92 games with good defense (77 errors,.987 FPct-6th) and pitching (4.08 ERA, 1.33 WHIP-9th) and average hitting (.271 BA-12th). The Youthful Utes went into the playoffs and had some success getting by the Moose in the first round. But they ran into a young and hungry Black Bear team in the DCS, there they got mauled and buried in 3 games.The Utes are a year older and very good. They should win this division and last years playoff experience may take em all the way.PREDICTION:96-66

OUT: Phillip Rhodes , Tito Cannon

IN:  Troy Farrell

PREVIEW:  Hoopcoach's Utes won 91 games and had to settle for a wildcard berth. They were probably better than my Zoid's and the stats prove it. This team had the better hitting (.269 BA-13th ) and pitching (3.89 ERA-5th, 1.30 WHIP-4th) than my team. The defense was the only thing lagging, but still good (92 errors-12th, .985 FPct-9th). In the playoffs, Salt Lake lost in 4 to Cincinnati. I guess we in the NL west need to up our game. In the off-season Hoopcoach re-signed Jose Martinez , let Rhodes head to free agency and released Cannon. He picked up Farrell in the R-5 draft to fill the 25 man roster. The loss of Rhodes and the injured Cannon shouldn't hurt this team at all. Hoop will see if the R-5 pick-up Farrell can help out, probably from the bench. This is still the same team with future hall of famers that have improved from last year. I see many playoff appearances in their future. And with some playoff experience, Who Knows? Maybe a couple of Rings are in the future for the Youthful Utes. This team should win the division and make it past the first round of the playoffs. PREDICTION:98-64 (Div Winner)

Colorado Springs Bandits (NL) ressda View Hardball Dynasty Profile

LAST YEARS RECORD:74-88

LAST YEARS PREVIEW:  The Bandits almost made it to the elusive 80 win mark...so close! They won 79 games with average pitching (4.35 ERA,1.33 WHIP-15th) and good defense (85 errors,.986 FPct-9th). The hitting (.260 BA-26th) was the culprit and was the main reason Ressda's guys fell short.The big story here is the trade that sent Stuart to New Britain and brought in Maduro and Chapman. The Bandits have a offensive problem and this trade helps fix that. I think Colorado Springs will give Salt Lake City all they've got and then some. Ressda has done a great job with this team.PREDICTION:88-74

OUT: Diego Acosta , Matty Guerrero , Don Hyzdu , Mickey Harville , Art Stewart , Turk Wallace , Albert Bernadina

IN:  Tito Brea , Giomar Molina , Nolan O'Leary , Danny Chapman , York Glover , Juan Marmol , Alexi Rios

PREVIEW:  The Bandits finished below my Prediction of 88 wins. Ressda's may want to institute some fielding drills, because they went from only 85 errors (9th) in season 23 to 112 errors (27th) last year. This probably caused the pitching staffs ERA to jump to 4.45 (14th) and the WHIP to 1.44 (23rd). Colorado Springs hitting did improve with .265 BA (19th) and 755 runs (21st), but it still has a ways to go. In the off-season Ressda let Acosta ,Guerrero, Hyzdu, Harville and Stewert to free agency. He released Wallace and traded away Bernadina. Then he Signed free agents Brea, Molina,O'leary and promoted Chapman and Glover. The earlier trades brought in Marmol and Rios. Ressda re-vamped his pitching staff with 3 new starters and 2 bullpen guys. The Bandits still have one of the weaker defensive teams in the NL and it will hamper the pitching stats. But the hitting is pretty good and will bring this team to about the .500 mark. Ressda's guys also are the second youngest team in Wrigleyville and  they will improve in time.PREDICTION:80-82

San Francisco Kickapoos (NL) mark3313 View Hardball Dynasty Profile

LAST YEARS RECORD:45-117

LAST YEARS PREVIEW:  I won't spend any time on last years stats because Mark's team is in a re-build. But I will point out some tasty prospects he picked up. He grabbed Yamil Amaro in the IFA market and drafted Humberto Arroyo , Allan Hampton and Cristian Waters in first round of the draft. Not sure if they will still be there or traded away to other teams, but they are nice tasty prospects for the future.It's really weird looking at the Kickapoos in re-build mode. They were a force in this division for so long. And it was cool that mark signed Sosa to a contract so that he can go out as a Kickapoo. Look for Mark to be a player in the IFA market. Better bring your checkbook...he has allot of money to spend! PREDICTION: 60-102

OUT: Jackson Reed , Cyrus Bottalico , Jeffrey Blackley , Nipsey Benard , Jae Kojima , Eric Durham , Gus Grossman , Wandy Corpas , Ed Quantrill , Arthur Blackburn , Felipe Ramirez , Charlie Forster , Albert Baez , Tuck Simmons , D.J. White

IN: Perry Franco , Ricardo Johnson , Steve Teahen , Santiago Rodriguez , Harry Ontiveros , George Cordova , Bernard Wilson , Art Desmond , Vicente Prieto , Shawn Terry , Asdrubal Beltran , Chad Patrick , Francisco Chavez , Dan Hermanson , Wallace Johnston

PREVIEW:  Egads!!! only 45 wins. They played like Poo. Not much to say about last year on the diamond .The real story here is the prospects they picked up. Mark grabbed Marcell Matos and Kosuke Wang in the IFA market. He selected Keith Jenkins and Robert Boyle in the draft.San Francisco is building a dynasty and will be tough to beat in 3-4 years.In the off-season Mark re-signed Billy Brock and let Reed, Bottalico, Blackley, Bernard, Kojima, Durham and Grossman go to free agency. He released Corpas, Quantrill,Blackburn,Ramirez, Forster, Baez, Simmons and White. Now that most of last years team is gone ,Mark claimed Franco off the wire. Then he signed free agents Johnson, Teahen, Rodriguez, Ontiveros, Cordova, Wilson, Desmond, Prieto and Terry. He picked up Beltran, Patrick, Chavez, Hermanson Johnston in the R-5 draft. This is just a changing of the guard to appease the Minimum win Rules. Mark will continue to grow his youngsters and pick up a few more. PREDICTION:65-97

A L WEST PREVIEW SEASON 25

Salem Salmonbellies (AL) mdymond View Hardball Dynasty Profile

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)

Vancouver Blitz (AL) blitziscomin View Hardball Dynasty Profile

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)

Arizona Cobras (AL) swishnev23 View Hardball Dynasty Profile

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 

Cheyenne Bagwell Bashers (AL) carseneau View Hardball Dynasty Profile

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

N L SOUTH PREVIEW SEASON 25

Jackson Black Bears (NL) olemiss33 View Hardball Dynasty Profile

LAST YEARS RECORD:105-57 (WORLD SERIES CHAMP)

LAST YEARS PREVIEW:  Yep.....These Bears can hunt....er......By the way, Bears are close cousins to dogs. I was a year early when I picked this team as a darkhorse. They have come out of a long hibernation and are hungry. The Bears clawed the National League and won 104 games with the #2 pitching team (3.18 ERA, 1.22 WHIP-2nd). That as good enough for #1 seed in the playoffs and nobody wanted to play them. The Utes got sent home in the DCS after a sweep then the 2 time defending champs got a crack at the Black Bears.  Ehulls guys were the only ones that had a chance to beat Jackson and they did in 6 games. Olemiss had a pretty good year but if the below average hitting (.261 BA-24th) and average defense ( 95 errors, .984 FPct-19th) can improve. Look Out fer them Bears!This is the same good young team as last year with the addition of a veteran SP and a tweak of the catching corp and bullpen. The Black Bears will win this division and will wreak havoc in the playoffs. PREDICTION:100-62


OUT: William Mateo , Jumbo MacFarlane , Alex Suarez , Albert Cabeza

IN:  Zeus Butler , Rob Dillon , Taylor Castillo

OLEMISS'S PREVIEW:  Defending WS Champions Jackson return virtually the entire roster. Jackson led the league in pitching by a wide margin last year, and return every major piece of that staff. The only loss is Jumbo MacFarlane ,who was going to be the odd man out of the rotation. Jackson hopes there is no major injury to the rotation, as MacFarlane would have been a more than capable replacement. The Black Bears added a stud reliever in Zeus Butler ,to go along with an already stout bullpen of Rick Prince Mac Patrick and Hick Boucher. Jackson management would be disappointed if the staff's numbers don't improve from last years.If there is a injury to the rotation, the first call to AAA will be to bring up Benji Torres . As for the offense, the Black Bears return everyone, with the only addition being CRob Dillon .The Black Bears won't be as solid defensively as last year, but should be better offensively. Management would be disappointed with anything other than another 100+ win season and a deep run in the playoffs.

PREVIEW:  Look out Fer Them Bears! Olemiss bested my 100 win prediction and finished with 105. They did wreak havoc in the playoffs and brought a World Series Trophy to Jackson. Congrats Olemiss ,well done. Last year the Black Bears had the #1 pitching staff with w ERA of 3.36 and a WHIP of 1.20. They also had the 3rd best defensive squad with only 75 errors and a FPct of .988. Their hitting was average at best with .258 BA (26th) and 857 runs (10th) scored. Looks like pitching and defense will win every time. And if you manufacture enough runs....well then you have Championship Team. In the off-season Olemiss let Mateo go to free agency and traded away MacFarlane, Suarez and Cabeza. He traded for Butler and Dillon , and picked up Castillo in the R-5 draft. The pickup of Butler ( who I tried to trade for) will make a very good bullpen great. It was a pricey pick-up,but after Suarez got injured last year, he was tradeable. Dillon was brought in to shore up the catching corps, and he does have 3  rings with Burlington, so he's no slouch. The Black Bears are the team to beat in Wrigleyville. They will get competition from the others in this division but should win it. The World Series is another story...... Anything can happen in the post season.I would be surprised if they didn't play in the Series again. PREDICTION:103-59(N L Champ)

Austin City Limits (NL) wylie715 View Hardball Dynasty Profile

LAST YEARS RECORD:92-70

LAST YEARS PREVIEW:  I thought Austin had a ways to go but suprise!! they are here. Wylie's team won 92 games with great pitching (3.97 ERA, 1.33 WHIP-5th). The average hitting (.264 BA-15th) and defense (95 errors, .985 FPct-16th) still needs a tweak here and there.Replacing Stults in CF with Ruffin will upgrade the defense considerably. And while Ruffin won't hit as many homers he will hit over .300. (I actually had my eye on Ruffin as a possible addition). Wylie plugged in a couple R-5 players and we will see if they are DITR's or LOC's (Lumps Of Coal). He still has 12 million to play with in his player budget and could bring in a good player or 2. The City Limits are a good team but will need a miracle to beat the Black Bears for the division crown. They have a good shot at getting in the playoffs as a wild card .PREDICTION:90-72

OUT: Craig Dodd , Jose Lee

IN: Andres Espinosa

WYLIE'S PREVIEW: The City Limits are hoping to make the playoffs again,but we'd have to get lucky to win it all, I think. We have a solid offense, led by 1B Damaso gardel and RF Zip Madson. The pitching will be our downfall. We have a nice #1 in Jung Kim,but all the other starters are #3 or #4 starters ate best. The bullpen is dependable, but not great. I think if we keep Cfer Howard Ruffin healthy and the pitching shows even minor improvement, we'll be in the playoffs again.

PREVIEW: Wylie's City Limits had a very good year and finished close to my predictions. They won 92 games with good hitting (.269 BA-12th, 851 runs-11th) and pitching (4.09 ERA-9th, 1.33 WHIP-8th). the defense was porous with a 109 errors (24th) and a FPct of .983 (24th). Austin went into the playoffs as a wildcard and trounced my Zoids in the first round 3 games to 1. Not surprised here, he trounced me in the regular season also. Then in the DCS they met up with the #1 seeded Muskellunges and lost in 4. In the off-season Wylie let Dodd and Lee go to free agency. Then he picked up Espinoza in the R-5 draft. This is the same good young team with another year of experience. They will battle for the division crown and will need Jackson to stumble in order to win it. Wylie's warriors should make the playoffs and are dangerous with very good pitching.PREDICTION:96-66(Wild Card)

Jacksonville Juggernauts (NL) wishlist3677 View Hardball Dynasty Profile

LAST YEARS RECORD:79-83

LAST YEARS PREVIEW:  The Juggernauts were a little better but just a little. Wish's team won 72 games with above average pitching (4.31 ERA, 1.35 WHIP-14th) and defense (90 errors, .985 FPct-12th). The hitting (.255 BA-29th) wasn't very good and could be a target in free agency.Wish decided to add some pitching in the off-season and they should be a better club on the mound. The hitting may come around if last years mid-season call-ups Denny Satou and Clarence Aubrey can put it together. But the position players are young. And it's and it's a crap shoot whether or not this team will start mashing. Wish also has only 35 million in salaries and has about 37 million in cap space. He may bring in some veterans or transfer money to prospects....it's nice to have options.The Juggernauts could be anywhere from .500 to a wild card contender . My guess is mid-80's but could be 90's with some mid-season pickups. PREDICTION:84-78


OUT:  Brian Martin

IN: Kenny Delahanty

PREVIEW: Wish's Juggernauts finished below my guess...er .....prediction of 84 wins. Still 79 wins are a improvement from the previous season. They did this with very good defense (83 errors-6th, .986 FPct-6th) a decent pitching (4.38 ERA-12th, 1.38 WHIP-14th) . The hitting is lagging but not terrible (.264 BA-21st, 750 runs-22nd). In the off-season Wish let Martin go to free agency. Then he signed free agent Delahanty to fill out his roster. The Juggernauts game is pitching and defense . If they can score enough runs Jacksonville may make the playoffs. Having to battle 2 tough teams in their division doesn't help. For that reason, I'm inclined to believe this team will miss the playoffs. PREDICTION:81-81

Tampa Bay Rays (NL) svick39 View Hardball Dynasty Profile

LAST YEARS RECORD:75-87

LAST YEARS PREVIEW:  The Tampa Bay Stars finished close to last years prediction. Nelig blamed last years debacle on the umpiring. And was so upset he decided to join them instead of fight them. Word has it that Nelig has enrolled in C.B. Bucknor's Blind Umpires Academy. Nelig...Nelig....say it aint so!! Former Tampa Bay Stars owner, Jmas410, decided to come out of retirement. And bring this team back to the Glory days when he ran the show. He will have some work to do because last years Stars had terrible hitting (.260 BA-27th) and average pitching (4.78 ERA, 1.49 WHIP-21st) and defense (95 errors, .984 FPct-18th).Whew!!! Someone was burning up the trade chat channels. With so many new faces it would be hard to predict how this team will do. So I will have to go to the Franchise Ranking page and base my prediction on that. In the N L the Stars are # 2 in Eye and Contact and #1 in RH hitting and LH hitting and #5 in power. So this team can hit with the best of them. The pitchers control is #4 ,LH is #8, RH is #2 and 1st pitch is 15th. So the pitching is about average overall. My guess this years stars will hit well enough to overcome average pitching and play for a wildcard berth.PREDICTION:87-75

OUT:  Santos Mieses , Santo Prieto , Victor Medrano , Jimmie Guerrero , George Cordova , Adam Hamilton , Joe Cunnane , Javier Manzanillo , Jose Pena , James Wainhouse , Art Desmond , Esmerling Sanchez , Matt Gibbons , Emil Aguilar , Harry Padilla , Zeus Butler , Alexi Rios , Jackie Guthrie , William Tabaka , Javier Flores

IN: Vladimir Gonzales , Dante Swindell , Louie Waters , Harry Espinosa , Alex Cortez , Derrick Sanders , Troy Towers , Dave Moore , Bryan Lombardi , Tori Miller , Yunesky Cruz , Javier Ozuna , Emil Soler , Vince Washington , Benny Culver , Alex Suarez

PREVIEW:  Missed this one! Jmas's major overhaul didn't go well. The Stars only managed 75 wins and this may be due to playing in a tough division. But that's not the only reason, lack of timely hitting and run support was their downfall. Last year Tampa Bay had average hitting (.265 BA-18th, 718 runs-26th) and pitching (4.38 ERA-13th,1.39 WHIP-16th) with good defense (85 errors-8th, .986 FPct-8th). This poor season led Jmas to go back into retirement. Svick bought the team for a Netflix gift certificate and a Commodore 64 game console.That should keep Jmas entertained in his survival bunker.  In the Off-season Svick let Mieses, Prieto, Medrano, Guerrero, Cordova, Hamilton, Cunnane and Manzaillo go to free agency. Then he released Pena, Wainhouse, Desmond, Sanchez and waived Flores. He traded away Gibbons, Aguilar, Padilla, Butler, Rios, Gutherie and Tabaka . Phew!! Man that's burning down the house with a flame thrower. When the embers cooled Svick claimed Gonzales, Swindell and Waters off the waiver wire. Then signed free agents Espinosa, Cortez, Sanders, Towers and promoted Moore, Lombardi, Miller, Cruz, Ozuna and Soler. He picked-up Washington and Culver in the R-5 and one of the earlier trades brought in Suarez. Forget last year stats, all of last years players are gone and replaced with waiver claims, R-5's , low level free agents and young prospects from the minors.This is a house gutting and re-build plain and simple. Svick slashed 50 million in contracts and has 30 million in player cap space.While picking up prospects and getting younger. He may transfer money and pick up some tasty IFA's . Or if his team does well early, pick up some high dollar waiver wire cast-offs. I had to go to the Magic 8-ball for my prediction. PREDICTION: 68-94

A L NORTH PREVIEW SEASON 25

New Britain Bruins (AL) dodgersgale View Hardball Dynasty Profile

LAST YEARS RECORD:94-68

LAST YEARS PREVIEW:  Dodgers Bruins finished exactly as predicted in last years preview. They won the A L North and went into the playoffs as the #2 seed. I know ...my jaw dropped at a team with only 88 wins got a 1st round bye. But thats the way this game is ...you never know. New Britain took their good fortune and ran with it all the way to the N L championship series. There they lost in 7 games to a very good Cobra team. The great playoff run may be due to the good pitching (4.27 ERA, 133WHIP-12th) and defense (80 errors, .987FPct-7th).  The hitting (.264 BA-17th)  was the weak spot in last years team ,but still respectable.Dodger has 14 million in cap space so he has flexability in rounding out this years roster. He traded away a couple of really good players to land Stuart and he may be worth it. New Britain also strengthened the back end of the Bullpen and that should fix last years 17-21 record in one run games. I had my eye on free agent pitcher Tomas Alvarez as did Dodger. I think he will help out this years rotation. Dodger is the favorite to win the division but Fargo and the improved Misfits will be nipping at their Heels. PREDICTION:92-70 (Div Winner)


OUT:  Tomas Alvarez , Ramiro Pena , Santiago Rodriguez , Quinton Sauer , Brandon Robinson , Ryan Vaughn

IN:  Destin Brow

DODGER'S PREVIEW:  My preview is simple: same team, hoping for the same result, with the exception of winning game 7 this time.

PREVIEW:  Dodgers Bruins finished close to my prediction of 92 wins and the Misfits were nipping at their heels. In the end, they did win the division due to their great pitching staff (4.00 ERA-6th, 1.32 WHIP-5th). The hitting was good with a .274 BA-(9th) and 891-(5th) runs scored. The defense (97 errors-16th, .984 FPct-13th) was like a dingle-berry on a bears butt..... not a  problem.They went into the playoffs as the #2 seed and battled all the way to the World Series. It was a bear of a series and the Bruins lost to the Black Bears in 7 games.  In the off-season Dodger re-signed Jeremy George and let Alvarez, Pena, Rodriguez, Sauer, Robinson and Vaughn go to free agency. He signed free agent Brow to fill out his roster. Last year Dodger called up youngsters Gill Hartzell  , Adam Green , Esmailyn Figureoa and Gio Francisco and looks as if they're in the Bigs to stay. New Britain will finish with a division win with the Misfits and P-dogs finishing close behind.PREDICTION:100-62

Minnesota Misfits (AL) pbsilver11 View Hardball Dynasty Profile

LAST YEARS RECORD:89-73

LAST YEARS PREVIEW:  Pbsilvers affable collection of players surprised me and the league with 79 wins. While they didn't make the playoffs,It's safe to say that PB got the most out of this team. The Misfits had the 3rd ranked hitting team (.286 BA) and below average pitching (5.13 ERA-27th) and defense (101 errors, .983FPct-22nd). While writing this preview the Misfits had their first major injury Rafael Uribe. That seems to be the Misfits luck! PB went out and spent alot of cash on James and traded for some very good players. It's apparent that he is going for it, in true Chevy Chase fashion. I like the additions to this years Minnesota team and think they have a good shot at winning the division.PREDICTION:89-73


OUT:  Nick McConnell , Jim Caufield , Chris Everett , William Resop , Del Martin , Cleatus Canseco , Keith Aurilia

IN:  Jose Pena , Rick Surkamp , Louis Little , Cesar Roque , Victor Torres

PB's PREVIEW:  Had a good season last time. Most players are back and picked up some extra pitching. Hoping we can have back to back success but lots of challenges in my own division!

PREVIEW:  Hit the bulls-eye on last years prediction. PB's Misfits won 89 games and played very well last year offensively.They sported  a batting average of .280 (4th) while scoring 875 runs (7th). Their pitching was below average (4.56 ERA-19th, 1.38 WHIP-15th) and may be due to one of the worst defensive squads (120 errors-30th, .980 FPct-30th) in Wrigleyville. Even though they missed winning the division, they did get into the playoffs as a wild-card. Where they swept Richmond in the first round, and in the DCS  they took a good Bruins team to a 5th game, but came up short. This team makes me scratch my head, I thought you needed good pitching and defense to go far in the post-season. It just shows to go you, anything is possible in the playoffs. In the off-season PB re-signed Livan Mercado and let McConnell, Caufield and Everett go to free agency. He released Resop and Martin and waived Canseco and Aurilia. Then he signed free agents Pena and Surkamp and traded for Little, Roque and Torres. Minnesota improved the pitching with Surkamp,Little, Roque and Torres. They also brought in a good defensive player in Pena. With the improvements PB's Misfits are gonna be in the division race. And it may come down to who has the least amount of injuries. If not the division they will be in the wild card race.PREDICTION:94-68(Wildcard)

Fargo Prairie Dogs (AL) aaronwayne View Hardball Dynasty Profile

LAST YEARS RECORD:81-81

LAST YEARS PREVIEW:  The P-dogs were the favorites to win this division but were overtaken and trampled by the Bruins. Finishing with only 80 wins last year. It demolished my prediction of a 93 win season and Aarons playoff hopes. Aaronwayne had good hitting (.280 BA-8th) and defense (90 errors,.986 FPct-10th)but it couldn't overcome the average pitching (4.70 ERA, 1.45 WHIP-20th).I won't spend much time on the guys that left, most were mid-season fill-ins. But I will point out the trading of a young super-closer and future FOY pitcher Butler, will be missed in the bullpen. Maybe the promotion of Efrain Willits last year made him expendable. Aaron spent about 30 million on free agents and most are solid veterans. Most of the signings were in his biggest need....Pitching. I like the direction the P-Dogs are heading and Fargo has 18 million in cap space for flexibility. I think Aarons P-dogs rebound from last years average season and vie for the AL North title. PREDICTION:91-71

OUT: Tito Brea , Steve Teahen , Albert Perez , Harry Ontiveros , Juan Mota

IN:  Mickey Dawley , Kevin Leonard , Eddie Locke , Al Vincente , Craig Dodd , Ted McNamara , Dioner Redondo , Kendry Torcato

PREVIEW: The P-dogs lifted their leg and pissed on mine. I thought they would improve on a .500 season last year and I was wrong,wrong wrong. I keep forecasting a 90+ win season and they keep putting up 80 win seasons. They did have allot of turnover last year ,so my bad,but I still have wet pant legs. Last years team had good hitting again (.275 BA-7th, 860 runs-8th). Below average pitching (4.72 ERA-21st,1.45 WHIP-24th)  and defense (102 errors-20th, .983 FPct-18th). In the off-season Aaron re-signed Johnnie Hurst , Harry Suarez , Raul Castillo and let Brea, Teahen, Perez and Ontiveros go to free agency. He sent Mota packing and he was picked up by Frisco. Then he signed free agents Dawley, Leonard, Locke, Vincente  , Dodd and promoted McNamara, Redondo and Torcato. The youngster McNamara is finally ready to play a full season in the bigs. And if he plays up to his ability, that alone will improve the P-Dogs.Dawley and Leonard are good offensive players and Dodd was a multi GG shortstop on the decline. Looks like the P-dogs will try and out score their opponents with great hitting and poor pitching. Another average year in Fargo. PREDICTION:81-81

Chicago Black Sox (AL) hacker7 View Hardball Dynasty Profile

LAST YEARS RECORD:78-84

LAST YEARS PREVIEW:  The Blacksox were a better team last year but my 20 win improvement prediction was Optimistic. They won 10 more games with the worst defense in Wrigleyville (129 errors,.979 FPct-32nd). The pitching was below average (4.98 ERA,1.96 WHIP-25th) and hitting was about average (.263 BA-18th).The biggest story in Chicago was the signing of Olshan. He got a 10 million dollar signing bonus with a 3 year 30 million dollar contract. Lots of money for a below average defensive Catcher. But the guy can hit and would make a wonderful DH. Overall Hacker improved the hitting and pitching, but the defense will lead them into darkness. It will be Dark, Dark days for the Blacksox. PREDICTION:78-84

OUT: Dom Woods , Russell Baez , Juan Guerrero , Danys Mota , Wes Burks

IN:  Juan Ruiz , Al Belliard , Amos Watkins

PREVIEW:  The Black Sox finished with 78 wins as predicted. For the record, last years big signing of DH/C Ryan Olshan went well. He smacked 24 homers while hitting .279. Not great...but not bad either. Last year Hackers Black Sox had average hitting (.266 BA-16th, 859 runs-9th), below average pitching (4.85 ERA-24th, 1.51 WHIP-26th) and again the worst defense in Wrigleyville (125 errors-32nd, .979 FPct-32nd). In the off-season Hacker let Woods, Baez, Guerrero,Mota and Burks go to free agency. then he signed free agents Ruiz and Belliard and picked up Watkins in the R-5. Hacker continues to hand out big signing bonuses, 5 million for both Ruiz and Belliard. In the long run this will make future payrolls low and that may be his strategy. Ruiz will help the defense at the hot corner, and it's hard to believe this team is so bad at defense with a GG Cf'er. Maybe it's the lack of a good shortstop? None the less , The Black Sox are another one who will try and outscore their foes. It may prove to big of a hill to climb? PREDICTION: 82-80

WELCOME TO THE SILVER SEASON

 Howdy folks! This is the start of our 25th season in Wrigleyville . And after a commish change and some turnover it's mostly the same old group of Curmudgeons playing make-believe baseball. We have several new owners with us this year . Welcome to svick39 , zsiegri , dajack87 and  blitziscomin . May the wind always be at your back.
  This year on the WHIF we will have the season previews and weekly updates. Last year I had time to do mid season reports at the all star break. I think they went well and I have yet to decide wheather to do them this year. In the past we have had several guest reporters do power rankings and we still need a volunteer this year. So if your good with numbers or someone gave you a  groovy calculater for christmas. Let me know, and we will set you up with posting privleges.
  This is the start of my 5th calendar year writing the WHIF. And while sometimes it feels like a chore. Most the time it is a joy to write. I hope I can continue to slog out posts and sometimes entertain . So break out a new bottle of blantons or whatever alcoholic beverage you have handy . Pour a glassfull and raise it to the sky.

 May the errors be few and the homers be great. Only the W I S  Computer can tabulate your fate.
May your draft be great and the IFA's be many. I wish I could sign them for a handfull of Pennys.
Here we go again on a brand new season . Could the departure of Sordie bring civility and reason.
Heres to Hoopcoach our newest Commish. Did you know a Muskellunge is just a Big Fish.
Heres to the re-build of Mark and Rbedwell. Their teams play like crap, pardon the smell.
This game we play is tough and demanding. May your team at the end be the only one standing.

Merry Christmas to all,
Madmudoon