NL EAST - Season #21 Preview

Richmond Spiders


It’s been two years in a row that the Richmond Spiders have been the last place team in the league, and this year the rebuilding stops and the winning (hopefully) starts.  The season started with a purge of most of the untalented players on last years MLB roster.

We have promoted 4 players that I hope to build the core of the team around in the coming future. Red James (RF) is a first round draft pick from season 15, and he’s legit at the plate. He will be a welcome addition to a line-up that was putrid last year.

From a pitching perspective, Torey Olivares, Herb Leary, and Phillip Seay were all promoted this year. Olivares was signed as an IFA in season 19, Leary was a first round pick in season 17, and Seay was acquired in season 18 from Baltimore for Russell Collins.

The other key moves in the offseason were extending set-up man Miranda’s contract, and landing a couple key pieces in FA. Geraldo Pimentel (C) and Marcus Lamb (SS) are some aging vets, but will hopefully bring some offensive punch to the Spiders line-up this year. We also signed some pitching help as well, Xavier Maxwell and Hanley Perez should be able to add some stability to a very poor rotation from a year ago.

Overall the Spiders franchise has had only 1 season in 20 years over .500, I hope to make it two this year. The future looks bright in Richmond!



Rochester Rodents Of Unusual Size

Rochester is still looking to avoid the early season holes we keep digging every year.
The starting offense returns intact, but our bench has undergone a bit of an overhaul. Welcome to new comers Oswaldo Guapo to handle LF & 1b duties and John Worthington to cover SS late in games. Both come with much better offense than we have had in the past w/ former SS’s Garland & Parker who were defense only. Still looking for these guys to hit like they should, especially since there arb numbers are about to really increase next year or two…then it will be decision time on this group.

The pitching staff has traded our #1 starter Willie Estrada (lost as type A – don’t get me started on the compensation situation!) for serious ace & megabuck contract havin’ Harry Palacios. We have also brought up a couple noobs to fortify the pen in former #6 pick season 18 Frank Mauer and Orlando Marmol. Pitching staff has a lot of control overall & very nice splits – should be a strength.
A lot of our top prospects are gone in the Palacios deal….but we have Howie Boyle developing for the pen, last year’s #1 pick and a few compensation picks to refortify the system.

New York Knights

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Washington D.C. Whalers

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NL NORTH - Season #21 Preview

Cleveland Rockers

The biggest news of the offseason came when we traded long time 2B Thomas Blanco, former rule 5 pick CF Trevor Gray and former 14th overall pick SP Bert Brock to the Tourists for RP Raul Martin. We are really excited about Martin.  We believe he is one of the top 3 bullpen arms in the world and at 29 years of age has plenty of good baseball left in him. 

 The Rockers choose not to spend big this year on free agents because of all the young players that need playing time.  We lost probably our biggest star, 3B Ober McClellan to free agency but felt we could justify letting him go with Kendry Benitez ready to take over.  We also lost a couple of solid bullpen arms but felt we had the talent to replace them in the minors at a fraction of the cost. 

Our top prospect is probably LF Jolbert Campos, he will hit for power and average when he arrives to the big leagues. Look for 2B Yorvit Roque, 3B Kendry Benitez, C Victor Osuna, SP Heinie Starr, RP Josh Truman and possibly RP Hal Alexander to make their ML debuts at some point this season.

Montreal Thunder Birds

Pawtucket Sox

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Toronto Gang Colours

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NL SOUTH - Season #21 Preview

Florida Ocean Blue

After staying in the wildcard hunt right up through the final day of last season but failing to make the cut, the major objective this off-season was to bolster an offense that finished near the bottom of the league in run production.

Despite the efforts of MVP Scot Simontachi, the Blue fared poorly due to little or no production from 2 outfield spots and SS. Vet slugger Ralph Wallace was signed to play some 1B to get another bat into the line-up, and CF Trevor Grey was brought in via trade to get on base at the top of the order, while skillfully manning the key defensive position. We're also hoping from bounce-back seasons from Charlie Hull and Carlos Sosa, whom we hope gets inspired by playing out his walk-year.

The bullpen remains a strength, led by lights-out closer Andrew Ratliff, but the rotation is shaky behind the 1-2 punch of Harry Mathews and Rex Andrews. Hopefully, the revamped offense will help overcome the weak back-end of the rotation.

On the farm, speed-demon Patrick Boyle is ready for the call should Sosa again struggle, or should we suffer a major injury. Starter Gene Bolden is still acouple years away, and we are excited about the first two picks in last year's draft; 2B Buck Hutchinson, who is already capable of fielding the position, but needs to develop his bat, and starter Jack Browning.



Mexico City Hombres Azul

Hardly lost anyone, Charlie Jefferies tested free agency, but it looks as if no-one wanted him as I got him back for his asking price! Lost Lonny Alomar who was the vL half of my RF platoon.

The only new Hombre is Ronnie Romero who was acquired in a trade with Rochester, Ronnie will start in right field against lefties, and do some pinch-running. The acquisition of Romero compliments the Hombres Azul’s playing style: contact and speed, we now have 4 hitter with 90+ speed, but only one with 80+ power.

The cupboard is bare, almost. Ignacio Rondon will probably be starting catcher in Season 22, glovesmith Flip Riske will make a good back-up infielder, and Horacio Mujica may make a big league 2B if his glove improves.

Hoping for a repeat, it’s pretty much the same team so there should be a decent chance, but standing still is often not good enough, and I’m bound to see some regression from last years Cy Young winner Danys Ayala and silver slugger CF Alan Graham who both had career years.  I’m hoping that these will be balanced out by improvements from SS Alving Sanchez, and a full season from SP Rashun Gonzalez.




Kansas City Brownie's Wallbangers

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Nashville Neurotic Nematodes

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NL WEST - Season #21 Preview

Honolulu Rainbow Warriors


After an exciting but ultimately failed NLCS appearance last season, the Honolulu Rainbow Warriors are making an all-out push to bring the World Series trophy to Waikiki Beach.*

Expensive, talented, and past your prime? Come on down! The Warriors loaded up on mid-30's graybeards, bringing in strong starters Chief Blair and Brandon Linden, and former MVP Billy Reynolds, for one last shot at glory. The controversial six-man rotation will return, and the Warriors hope that their core of Matty Lee, Herb Reed, Deivi Alomar, and clubhouse cancer Rafael Blasco can combine with a power bullpen to get past the Mexico City juggernaut.

Minor leagues? Don't worry about it. Not much to be had there beyond future No. 3 starter Derrek Jones. But only Baseball America will care about that once all of Hawaii is rejoicing at the all-night post-World Series Luau in Diamondhead Crater.

*Hawaiian native Barack Obama has promised to throw out the first pitch if the Warriors make the Series.



Scottsdale Maize 'N Blue


Key Additions - All Prospects -Benji Aguilera, Andres Macias, Adam Riggs, DJ Webster, Kurt Giambi

Key Losses - Harry Palacios, Delino Silva, Felipe Martinez

Top Prospects - Outside of the new additions, my team is being built through OF - Wiki Rivas and Jose Velez, SP- Raul Batista, James Lamb and Lou Hendrickson as well as RP Wandy Urbina and Christopher Villareal.

Outlook - Yes we moved again..We dropped massive payroll and talent by trading Palacios and Silva, but this team was still a few years away with them so they were moved for quality prospects. .Future looks extremely bright. Ace SP Niko Kirby still has several years in this franchise though the enormous offers I've been receiving for him could see him in a new uniform in Season 22.




St. Louis Wish I Had Pujols' 


Top player added this year is Hootie Stockton who was a free agency signing. Also brought up Ted Van Hekken, who is probably my best prospect and Neifi Cabrera to pair along side Sparky Lee at the top of the line-up.

For the second straight year I lost my best reliever to free agency as Aurelio Montanez left the team. My top prospects include Vin Ellsbury on triple-A and a couple of pitchers, Itou and Okajima, at the lower levels. Would like to compete this year, but realize I am probably one more pitcher and another power bat to go with Patel away from really being a factor in the division race.




Vancouver Big Blue Bulldogs

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AL EAST - Season #20 Preview

 
Baltimore Renegades


The Baltimore Renegades are trying to get to the World Series for the first time in the history of the franchise. They came up a little short last season as they lost to the Salem Slayers (the eventual World Series champions) in the ALCS.  The team is geared to win now as many of the players are in their prime. 


The Renegades have lots of fire power offensively.  With the likes of C-Walt Harnisch, 1B- Pascual Sanchez, 2B- Ricky Atchley, 3B- Cory Thomas, SS- Russell Collins, LF- Ian Trammell, CF- Rafael Blasco, RF-Craig Cook, and DH- Jim Morris...this team is sure to score lots of runs. Young players like 1B- Jim Brooks and CF/2B- Pablo Durazo have to bide ther time in AAA (or on the ML bench) to get the chance to crack the starting line-up.


The Starting pitching is good (not great), with Milt Gagne, Vic Ordonez, Victor Palmeiro and rookie phenom Kevin Lawrence.  The last spot in the rotation will go to the winner of the Spring Training battle between Walt Koch and newly acquired free agent Mateo Leon.  The loser of this battle should whind up being the long-man out of the bullpen.


The bullpen is the team's biggest weakness.  It's led by second year closer Bengie Plata and Damian Murphy.  The Renegades also added RH set-up man Alex Mangual via free agency this offseason, but tried unsuccessfully to acquire a more experienced closer to help transition Plata into the role full-time.  The closer role is definately Plata's job to lose entering Spring Training, but don't be suprised if the team tries to acquire a more seasoned veteran by trade or uses a bullpen-by-committee approach as needed.


Top Rookies- CF/2B- Pablo Durazo (AAA) and 1B- Jim Brooks (AAA)

Key Players Lost- RHP- Joaquin Benitez (waivers), RHP- Orlando James (FA), RHP- Moe Fasano (FA), LHP- Alex Whang (FA), C- Catfish Harper (waivers), 1B- Vasco Bonilla (FA), 2B/LF- Luis Megias (Released), and LF-Jesse Stein (FA).

Key Players Aquired- RHP- Mateo Leon (FA), RHP- Alex Mangual (FA), C- Tomas Prieto (Rule 5 Draft), 3B-Nerio Baker (FA), and 1B/LF- Elston Malloy (FA).

Key Off-Season Transaction- Signing free agent RHP Alex Mangual as it should help settle this seasons biggest need.  Mangual may also see some save opportunities this seaon as the closer .





Cincinnati Rang


I think my team will contend for a playoff spot.  My best prospects are Ricky Liverman, Jimmy Cintron, Albert Mondesi, Phillip Pride.

Players added...Dante Ledesma, Jose Morales, Wilton Tucker. Players lost...Pedro Tatis, Junior Brea.

My best move was getting Dante Ledesma because he gave me a solid five starter.






New York Surf Riders

The big additions to the New York Surf Riders pitching staff in the offseason were bringing in additional bullpen depth with veteran set up relievers John Schmidt and Alex Thornton and picking up Felix Justice as a long reliever and spot starter in the Rule 5 draft. The rotation got a lot younger with the addition of rookie Derrick Cunningham, to complement Jackson Magadan and Wayne Allen, but still has veteran anchors Whitey West and Shooter Ledesma. Longtime SP, Albert Delgado has been demoted to the bullpen as a long reliever, but provides insurance against injuries. We lost LH set-up man Phillip Hammond, who was a big free agent pick up several seasons ago, but underperformed for us and lost the closer role to all-star Matt Antonelli. We got two Type A picks for him (49 and 100). A key to the Surf Riders season is that the young starting staff continue to develop, and get our team pitching our of the bottom third of the league. A bonus would be the development of Justice into a bona fide 4 or 5 starter.

On the line-up side, the addition of Derrick Landrum via trade, increases the team’s emphasis on versatile hitters who have both pop and on base skills as well as speed and versatility in the field. He joins Thomas Andujar, Yannick Williams Jr, Alex Calvo and newcomer Steve Adams, all in that mold. The middle of the lineup remains strong with sluggers Roger Mills, Giomar Cabrero and Jeremy Weston all coming back. Walters provides tremendous power off the bench, and would start for many teams. Free agent catcher Ernest Jameson was added as a back-up. With these additions, we are hoping that the team can move from the top half to the top third of the league in hitting. The team lost perennial all-star Anthony Thomas to free agency. We got two Type A picks for him (19 and 52). Overall the team has 6 top 100 picks, including 2 top 20, so it should continue to be able to strengthen from within the organization.



Columbus Cheese N' Rice

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AL WEST - Season #20 Preview

Anaheim Aardarks


Anaheim has struggled to break through - floating between 70-81 wins for the past 7 seasons. Francisco Melian has taken over leadership on offense and was rewarded with a new 4-year deal in the offseason. We added a few pieces on offense in the offseason, but pitching continues to be the achillies heel. If we get good work from our starters we could contend for a wild-card spot. If not, it could be complete overhaul and rebuild mode by the All-Star break as the team has quite a few veterans. My best guess is around 78-84 wins. Bryant Christiansen  continues to be as stud closer with 253 career saves and an 87.5 save percentage saving 43 games last year.

Top Prospects: Top pitching prospect Ubaldo Chavez will start his first full season in the majors. He went 6-3 in 14 starts at the end of last year. Elmer Reagan, 21, SS, AAA. Silver Slugger SS at AA last year when he hit .312/.386/.509 with 32 2B, 20HR, and 113 RBI. Izzy Fox, 19 RF, Low A. Last year's 13th overall pick was rookie league MVP, Silver Slugger RF, and an All-Star hitting .396/.487/.775 with 42 2B, 19HR and 102 RBI and scoring 91 runs. Juan Duran, 21, P, AAA - saved 28/32 games at AA last year. Likely heir apparent at closer. Sal Stratton, 22, P, AAA - combined 10-1 with sub 1.00 WHIP at AA/AAA last year. Esmailyn Petit, 22, P, AA - saved 24/28 at High A in PY. 1.13 career WHIP in minors.


Key Acquisitions: Lewis Glover, 29, LF - career 800+ OPS in 911 games. signed to 3-year deal. Matty Servet, 31, C - career .823 OPS, hit .344 in limited action with Columbus in PY. Signed to 2-year deal.

Key losses - none really. Released under-achieving former first round pick Edgar Guerrero rather than go to arbitration again. He had hit just .243 in over 2,000 career at-bats.

Key Transaction - missing out on some top pitching FA's that would have helped, thus had to go the offensvie route adding Servet and Glover as we will likely have to out-score people.





Salem Slayers

The team is identical to last year. No moves were made.. just keeping the roster intact for another run at the WS.





Las Vegas Gamblers

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Salt Lake Movers  Shakers

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AL SOUTH - Season #20 Preview

Austin Stinky Peas

Key Offense for the Peas 1B Kenny Tobin is our best offensive weapon. He has been granted a solid supporting cast, but most are flawed.  3B Marino Santana is a shell. The old man needs to much rest to be the impact he could be at this stage in his career and as a result will miss many key games or play too tired to make a he impact. His contract situation makes him almost untradeable.

Free Agent Grabs round out the outfield with Donaldo Romano, Gus Hollandsworth (S) and Giomar Almonte (R). None will win awards but are solid short term guys who can contribute right now and are very cheap. I love Rule 5 Archie Buss. He could be the future at SS, not the greatest hitter but is capable could be a solid contributor. If he gets .240 with 20 SB the team will be happy. His defense will keep him employed here for a long time even if it’s as a defensive sub.

Pitching Looking to lean on old arms Kevin Shelley and Milt Curtis to give me a strong season. Both are coming off solid campaigns and should keep Austin in games. Hoping that rookie Peter Yang can continue last season’s late success, but more realistically hoping he can keep his ERA around 4.5 The bullpen is short-staffed but has a solid closer in Shea Stankiewicz (L). Last season this was a team that finished 24 games under .500. He hopes to get this team closer to .500 maybe slightly over.

No free Agent grabs this season nor will prospect promotions be rushed to get this team to its former glory. The Peas will be on the trade block cutting old contracts and looking toward the future for the next 2 seasons.




Tampa Bay Sunburnt Tourists

I would hope to have an above .500 winning percentage, but will have to win a lot of high scoring games to get there...as we have very weak pitching this year.

Top players are Dario Kwon, slugging 3b with speed, Vince Caruso CF and Bunny Justice 2b coming off 48 hr season. No key losses or additions as payroll is bloated due to poor signings by prior owner.

Top prospects...Marvin Winston SS AA Brad Clayton LF AA Timothy Hansen Left Handed Starter High A.





Little Rock Rockabillies

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Mongomery Mud Slingers
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AL NORTH - Season #20 Preview

Detroit Wolverines


The Wolverines are expecting to compete for a playoff spot this season after a 2nd place finish in the division last season and some key additions.  These additions include 3B Anthony Thomas, a .295 career hitter with 9 20 Homer Seasons and 5 100 RBI Seasons. Carter Sexson was brought back to the team after being away for 2 seasons to balance out the pitching staff.

J.D. Randall and Roland Street were brought up from the minor leagues,Street could contend for Rookie of the Year. Top Prospects in the Minor’s include SP Angel Estrella and OF Charlie Little who should be in the ML’s in the next season or 2.





Philadelphia Dusters


My key acquisitions are Joe Harris and Pedro Tatis.  I hope they provide stability to my starting pitching staff and some better offense at SS without sacrificing defense.


Stephen Rivera, Charley Woodson, Ryan LaRocca, and Phillip Owens lead this team who has won the last 3 AL North division titles and unfortunately the league's highest payroll.

I expect to contend for the division title again and hope to make a further run than the ALDS round in the playoffs. Not too many prospects as most have been promoted to ML, i.e. Peter Beech, or traded for current ML players.




Boise Cartel

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 Buffalo Ice Dogs


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NL EAST - Season #20 Preview

Richmond Spiders


Well coming off of a season where Richmond finished DEAD last in the whole league, the expectations can't be much lower. We have traded away the majority of our preexisting talent in a push to build for the future, and we don't see the future as being season 20. Richmond's GM was able to find some nice FA's available to piece together what should be a decent team this year.

C/DH Norman Burkhart was the only significant offseason loss to the Richmond Spiders. Norman did not care to stay around during the rebuilding process and was looking to cash in on his last big pay day before retirement. Last season was a large purge for the Spiders. We shipped out some quality talent to other big league teams in hopes of building up our minors with some prospects who will be able to make a difference in 2-3 years.

Hideki Yoshii SP2, Todd Baxter RF, and Pasqual Prieto SS, were salary casualties as the Richmond front office just wanted to get out from under those overpriced contracts. It was a sad day in Richmond when 2B Lou Guthrie was moved. Lou was a fan favorite, having been a Spider since he was drafted 3rd overall in Season 14. The management realized now was not their time to win and acquired Ted Sheehan.

A top tier closer to hopefully put this team over the top in 2-3 years when they are ready to compete. Richmond also acquired 2 other decent pieces in this deal, Paulie Byrne who has the ability to contribute as a PH against lefties, and as a def replacement who posesses extremely good range. Earl Sinclair was in this deal as the third piece and he has the potential to contribute as a back end starter in an ML rotation. 

Overall the Spider's goal last season was to shed salary and build for Season 22. We feel we have accomplished this goal, and look to have a better year this year on the path to a Season 22 playoff spot.



Rochester Rodents Of Unusual Size

The ROUS anticipate a better regular season than last years wild card effort. Staying away from another slow start is the key, as it was an uphill battle to get to post season (allthough we did make the WS). Hopefully another year for my very young core will stabilize that streakiness & develop some consistency. (Our entire Offense is under $400k/player)

Obviously we are centered on Rochesters version of the big 3 in Estrada, Nieves & Chavez in the rotation & pretty much Emitt Collins on offense. Key offseason transaction was signing Midre Lopez to a long term deal, solidifying the closer role for another 4 yrs. Looking for bigger contributions from last years rookies Truman & Brito up the middle.

Top prospects are primarily in the pen. Last 2 years #1 picks Frank Maurer & Kurt Giambi & IFA 3b Andres Macias.

We want revenge on Salem!

Boston Red Sox

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Washington D.C. Whalers

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NL WEST - Season #20 Preview

Honolulu Rainbow Warriors


Hey there, new owner, taking over what appears to be a team with some high-end major-league talent, a garbage farm system, and some brutal contracts. I think I can be competitive this year, and could absolutely sneak into the playoffs as a wildcard, but really looking towards the two following seasons when we shed some dead money and can be more active in free agency.

Made very few aquisitions this year, just a fifth starter type to see if I can run a six-man rotation. My top prospects, such as they are, are Derek Jones, and Philip and Rob Whitfield. And beyond that, a lot of guys with horrendous splits and awesome bunting ratings. Yeah! Looking forward to competing with all of you.



San Francisco Maize 'N Blue


I feel I have one of the best pitching staffs in this world with Niko Kirby, Harry Palacios, Jimmy Veras, and Felipe Martinez in the bigs and with Raul Batista, Lou Hendrickson and last year's 1st rd pick James Lamb developing nicely in the minors. 

Bullpen is still a work in progress, but there are some good players for the future.  Traded away most all of my offensive prospects last year to get the pitching depth I now have so we will be targeting offensive IFA's and draft choices this year and for the next few seasons.

Didn't make any significant moves this offseason other than signing my only true stud on offense in Delino Silva to a 5-yr extension.  The rest of my ML offense is aging and likely to find new homes this year as we continue to try and build this franchise into a serious contender.

My pitching staff should keep us in the playoff chase and you'll be glad to know that we will be staying in San Francisco for at least two more seasons.



St. Louis Wish I Had Pujols'


This season the goal is to get over .500 and possibly challenge for the division. Brought up a couple decent prospects this year in Osvaldo Bennett and Harry Cortes. Also brought up one of my better prospects in T.J. Hall. Next two up will be Ted Van Hekken and Joaquin Bonilla, probably next year.
Looking to next year as year to really turn the corner.

Will be in the market for stud top of the rotation guy and if I can get that, I should be able to compete well for post season spot.

 No big aquisitions, did lose Mateo Leon and worse, Alex Mangual. Biggest roster move in positive direction was calling up Hall. Got unlucky and missed turnover while out of country and missed out on resigning my own free agents. ..really wanted to keep Mangual and arbitration which stuck me with some guys I am paying way too much for.

On the positive side, I have 8 picks in the top 67 of the draft and 9 in the top 77.




Vancouver Big Blue Bulldogs

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NL SOUTH - Season #20 Preview

Florida Ocean Blue

The Ocean Blue are looking to take another step forward after their unexpected push into the playoffs last season. A lot will hinge of the progression of starting pitcher Rex Andrews, who finally had the break-out season that had been expected of him for awhile. If he continues to build on last season's success, he forms a solid 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation along with veteran Harry Mathews. The vital pieces of last year's solid bullpen, led by closer Andrew Ratliff, all return.

Lack of depth in the starting rotation may be a concern, as Dante Ledesma left as a free agent. The Blue are banking that talented starter Trenidad Osoria can pick up the slack and finally live up to his potential. If we can't find any consistency in the middle-to-back end of the rotation, top propect Billy Turnbow may get the call to contribute. The Blue is also high on young pitcher Gene Bolden, but the 19 year old is still a few seasons away from getting to the bigs.

Third baseman Ivan Batista was signed in the off-season to get on base in front of sluggers Scot Simontachi, Carlos Sosa, Thom Christenson, and superstar Charlie Hull. Shortstop Don Okajima was resigned, as he attempts to win his fifth consecutive gold-glove.

Florida is also keeping an eye on last season's first round draft pick, Patrick Boyle out of the University of Florida, who is projected to take over at 2B in a few seasons when incumbent Hull makes the move to the outfield.

Spirits are high in Miami, as a return to the playoffs is on the radar; and there is even talk of the team moving into a new stadium with a retractable roof in a year or two!



Mexico City Hombres Azul

Looking to make the playoffs and then we’ll see how it goes from there. I think the team is slightly better than last year – but luck and injuries (or lack of them) will play a part. 

The key players are my 3 SPs Danys Ayala, Phillip Davis & Cecil Holmes. The line-up lacks a major power threat, but that is balanced out by having decent hitters in the key defensive positions.  My best bat is LF Delino Manzanillo who was a 30-30 man last year and is never far away from those figures, and I like the blistering speed 2B Charlie Jefferies brings. I’m expecting big things from sophmore 3B Benito Espinoza.  

My minors are fairly bare. I like LF Mickey Reid & C Ignacio Rondon , plus there are a couple of decent RPs.  We lost 3 decent prospects in the above trade plus lost CF Dick Cunnane. Not a massive loss as I don't think he has the range to play CF anymore.

The key move was our trade with the Vancouver Big Blue Bulldogs as we received 1B Esteban Montero and SS Alving Sanchez for 3 prospects.  Montero was immediately signed to a long-term contract ($21.6m/4yrs) which starts next year; he will play 1B while Rico Pizzaro is on the bench/block.

Sanchez will play SS, pushing Alan Graham to CF thus covering the loss of Cunnane. This will be Graham’s third different position in as many seasons (3B-SS-CF), and he never complains – a real team guy, he’s very popular - both in the locker room and amongst the fans.



Nashville Neurotic Nematodes 


The Nematodes are in rebuild mode and will likely finish in the bottom 3rd of the league this season. Rob Cradle and Jamie Benningson are the only real top quality major league players on the squad, and they won't be enough to carry the team to an over .500 record. A handful of prospects are in the lower levels, highlighted by SP Wandy Rodriguez. The Nematodes have the 4th and 12th picks in the draft and look to add a quality IFA as well.

These will be the key building blocks of the future. The most important off season transaction was letting Miguel Cabeza walk as this has netted the team the 30th pick in the draft as well a sandwich pick between 1 and 2.  While Nashville is unlikely to contend this season, it is anticipated that the new ownership will have the team turned into a contender by next season.


Jackson Goodfellas

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