Season 24 AL East Preview

There was a really good divisional race in the East last season. Boston ended up taking the title for the second time in franchise history after edging out Durham by 1 game. It was the teams second straight 100 win season, but first division title since season 12 and only their third time making the post season. They seem to have gotten things turned around in Boston. Durham was the reigning AL champ, but they took a bit of a step back last season and ended a 4 season run at the top of the East. They still managed to win an amazing 100 games for the third time in the past four seasons. They are still a top team in the AL, but they have a tough division opponent in Boston. Rochester finished well off the pace in the division, but still managed to stay competitive. They won 75 games and finished third. It's been 12 straight seasons without a playoff appearance for that franchise. Pittsburgh continued a downward trend and finished with just 57 which was the worst in franchise history. They are rebuilding and will likely continue that for a couple more seasons.



Boston Pilgrims

Offense			1	Defense			1	Pitching
Category	Stat	Rank		Category	Stat	Rank		Category	Stat	Rank
Average	.284	2		Fielding %	.989	1		ERA	3.68	1
Home Runs	221	7		Double Plays	399	13		Opp. Avg.	.253	3
Ops.	.808	2		+ Plays	97	2		Strike Outs	1050	7
Runs	942	3		- Plays	4	1		Saves	41	11
Steals	149	7		1	1	1		1	1	1
Slugging	.454	3		1	1	1		1	1	1

Season 20 record- 101-61(AL East Champ)
Last 5 seasons- 432-378

Tough Out- Matt Jaha- Jaha is a 25 year old that is entering his fifth season in the league. In his four seasons he has proven to be a really tough out. He has a career .447 OBP, and .339 batting average. Last season was his worst seasons in both and he still hit for a .333 average and .437 OBP. He adds a little bit of power to that as he regularly hits around 30 doubles and is a double digit homerun threat. Jaha may be the toughest out in Pine Tar.

Mr Max- Diego Valbuena- I'm going the easy route by choosing this guy to write about. Valbuena is very likely the best pitcher in Pine Tar. He has won back to back Cy Young awards for Boston and that gives him 3 in his career now. He's also a 5 time all star. Over the past 2 seasons he has a 45-9 record and has pitched 527 2/3 innings. Valbuena has earned his max contract in these first 2 seasons, and I'm sure he'll earn every penny of the remainder of the contract.

Offense-This team had one of the better offenses in the AL last season. The hit for a really good average had good power and speed. They had a lot of guys that over achieved last season though. They have a lineup full of players with really good batting eyes with real good contact and some power. The eyeball test tells me that this team can't repeat what they did last season. Logic tells me that if they did it last season then they should be able to this season with pretty much the same lineup.

Defense-Boston had an amazing defensive season. They led in fielding percentage, and had a mind blowing 4 minus plays. 3 of those were by pitchers. The problem is that they lost their shorstop. They are really lacking a shorstop this season. Tito Rayburn has been a really good centerfielder, but he's likely going to have to move to short this season. He has the ability, but the defense will take a step back some. The gloves on this team all around are really good though. This will still be a top defense, but I don't think they'll be as great as last season.

Pitching-This team is built on pitching. The rotation is led by Valbuena, Hipolito Owen, and Moises Olmedo. All 3 are really good pitchers that fit their spot in the rotation among the best in the league. The real strength of this team is the bullpen though. Hades Phillips, Gerry Redding, Javy Mendoza, Nash Casanova, and Jimmy Griffiths are really good bullpen arms. If these guys have a late lead, the game is over. This is a really good pitching staff heading into this season.

Projection-Boston has a really good team. The offense is the same this season, but I think it'll be tough for them to repeat last seasons numbers. The defense is still good, but I expect them to take a step back. The pitching is a real strength, especially the bullpen. I'm sure Boston will be challenging for the division title again this season, but it's going to be a tough race for them. I think they get in the post season even if they don't win the division by taking a wild card spot.



Durham Doormats

Offense			1	Defense			1	Pitching
Category	Stat	Rank		Category	Stat	Rank		Category	Stat	Rank
Average	.291	1		Fielding %	.979	14		ERA	4.14	5
Home Runs	309	1		Double Plays	418	7		Opp. Avg.	.258	6
Ops.	.860	1		+ Plays	44	12		Strike Outs	1169	2
Runs	963	1		- Plays	45	9		Saves	55	2
Steals	71	15		1	1	1		1	1	1
Slugging	.504	1		1	1	1		1	1	1

Season 20 record- 100-62(Wild Card)
Last 5 seasons- 510-300

Pure Power- Hector Janssen-Janssen is a real homerun threat. The 8 year veteran has had 6 seasons with 40+ homeruns. Last season he hit 42 homers and drove in 108 runs. The problem with Janssen though is that he won't usually hit for a high average and he strikes out a lot. He is a career .271 hitter and he has struck out over 100 times in all of the last 6 seasons. If he could put the bat on the ball just a bit more then this guy would be regularly over 50 homers.

Ace- Willie Jacquez-Jacquez is a real ace. At the age of 34, this off season he signed his second straight max contract. He lived up to the first one, so Durham decided to give him another. He had 92 wins over the course of the past 5 seasons and logged over 230 innings in each. He's a 2 time Cy Young award winner and has one in each league. He's a 4 time allstar with 3 of those coming in the past 5 seasons. He also has a no hitter to his name. Jacquez is a true ace.

Offense-Durham is built on offense. This team is regularly at the top of the AL in offense. The have a great mix of hitting and power. The lineup is loaded with quality hitting from top to bottom. Willie Martinez, and Janssen provide quite a bit of power to the lineup. Fred Inge is one of the better hitters in the league. This offense is going to be great again this season.

Defense-Durham sacrifices defense for offense. They really lack a shorstop and Eric Lindsey is only a solid centerfielder. The defense really isn't very good, but if they added a true shortstop, it would do wonders for this franchise.

Pitching-Durham was one of the better teams in pitching last season. The rotation is led by Jacquez and he's followed by a solid group in Benny Bravo, Victor Maranon, Orlando Cruz and Roberto Lopez. They aren't great, but they are above average. The bullpen features Rudy Jameson, Ubaldo Bennett and Miguel Gonzales. Joe Grace and Enrique Lopez are also in the bullpen and could be used as starters as well. As a whole group this is a pretty good pitching staff.

Projection-Durham should be among the best in the AL again this season. They should battle it out with Boston for most of the season and should over take them for the top spot. This team has a great offense and really good pitching. That is a formula for success. They really should make a push for the AL crown again.



Rochester Retards

Offense			1	Defense			1	Pitching
Category	Stat	Rank		Category	Stat	Rank		Category	Stat	Rank
Average	.267	12		Fielding %	.980	13		ERA	4.78	9
Home Runs	192	13		Double Plays	446	4		Opp. Avg.	.278	11
Ops.	.760	11		+ Plays	32	15		Strike Outs	984	13
Runs	800	11		- Plays	55	13		Saves	42	8
Steals	172	4		1	1	1		1	1	1
Slugging	.420	13		1	1	1		1	1	1

Season 20 record- 75-87
Last 5 seasons- 388-422

Great Young Hitter-Russell Powell-In his young career Powell has established himself as one of the better hitters in the league. Back in season 21, he recorded 237 hits, which is the third best single season total in Pine Tar history. He already has 1108 hits in just 5 1/2 seasons in the big leagues. He also adds some power as he has a career total of 180 homers and 179 doubles. Powell is a career .320 hitter with a .407 OBP and .533 Slg. He's been to 2 Allstar games, has 3 Silver Slugger awards, an MVP and a Homerun Derby Championship. Powell truly is a great young hitter.

Staff Ace-John McNamara-McNamara enters his third season in the majors as the staff ace in Rochester. He is an innings eater that will anchor this rotation. Last season he was second on the team with 214 innings pitched and led the rotation in wins(15), and ERA(4.21). He would typically fit in on most teams as a middle rotation starter, but he does have the ability to be this staffs ace.

Offense-Rochester struggled offensively last season. They finished in the bottom half of the league in most categories, but they did flash good speed on the bases. Powell is one of the better hitters in the league and is a good piece to build an offense around, but they have little else to go with him. Saul Trevino is solid and Kazuhiro Kuroda is a good hitter. Houston Baptist provides real good power. Mostly this offense is the same minus their top threat from a season ago. I think they'll take a step back and likely finish near the bottom offensively.

Defense-The defense on this team was near the bottom of the league last season. Oswaldo Estrada is a solid option at shortstop, but Trent Canizaro is a better one. Neither are above average though. Gerardo Vega played centerfield for the team last season and he's solid there, but also below average. The team really has solid gloves at most positions, but none of them are great. I think this team isn't as bad as last seasons numbers show and should at least be average.

Pitching-The pitching in Rochester was slightly below average last season. The rotation is led by McNamara and he's a solid number 1. Patrick Wilson, Vinny Grace, and Santo Ordonez make up a solid but unspectacular rotation. The only arm in the bullpen that I like is Marvin Bere. The others are average or below average and even Bere was really bad last season. The bullpen is going to hurt the overall pitching staff and rank them below average as a group.

Projection-Rochester is obviously not in the upper echelon of this division, but they are competitive. They have some solid pieces on this team, but not much to go around them. The offense is a concern and the bullpen is a bigger one. The defense is solid and the rotation is as well. This team should win north of 70 games, but they won't challenge for a post season spot.



Pittsburgh Ironmen

Offense			1	Defense			1	Pitching
Category	Stat	Rank		Category	Stat	Rank		Category	Stat	Rank
Average	.270	8		Fielding %	.983	9		ERA	6.00	16
Home Runs	131	16		Double Plays	411	11		Opp. Avg.	.301	16
Ops.	.727	16		+ Plays	52	10		Strike Outs	1001	11
Runs	715	15		- Plays	46	10		Saves	29	15
Steals	134	10		1	1	1		1	1	1
Slugging	.387	16		1	1	1		1	1	1

Season 20 record- 57-105
Last 5 seasons- 351-459

Power and Speed-Brian Hume-Hume entered the majors last season and made an imediate impact, which led to a rookie of the year award for him. He hit 42 homers to go with 45 doubles. He drove in 116 runs while scoring 115. He batted a .301 and had a .374 OBP. Hume put up great hitting numbers, especially for a rookie, but he also added 36 steals. Hume was the full offensive package last season as he showed great power and speed.

Contact Hitter- Coco Stratton-Stratton has been a really good hitter in his career and it's mostly due to his ability to make contact. Last season he hit a .307 for a career best. He also hit 21 homers and drove in 87 runs. In 531 at bats, he only struck out 39 times all season though. That is an unreal ratio in itself. For his career he only strikes out 1 in every 10.2 at bats. Stratton is the ideal contact hitter.

Offense/Defense/Pitching-I can't even do a review for this team because they don't even have enough players to fill a lineup.

Projection-It's obvious that this team is rebuilding, but right now there are only 18 players on the roster and that's not enough to give an accurate review. I'm going to guess they won't win many games though.


Prediction
Boston is the reigning division champ, but Durham isn't going to let them just have it this season. These two teams will be battling for the top spot all season and it could come down to the last day until it's won. I'm going to go with Durham at the top though. They are just stacked and while Boston is too, I think Durham has a little more fire power. Rochester will likely end up third again and will at least fight for victories. The same can't be said for Pittsburgh. This team has really fallen off the map over the past few seasons.

1. Durham Doormats
2. Boston Pilgrims
3. Rochester Retards
4. Pittsburgh Ironmen

Season 24-AL South Preview

For the second season in a row, Tampa Bay won this division. They did fall short on their quest to return to the ALCS for the second straight season. New Orleans took a step forward last season. They won 9 more games than they did in season 22, finished second in the division and ended a 13 season playoff drought. Things are looking up for that franchise. San Juan actually took a step back with 4 more losses than the previous season and moving from second to third in the division standings. They have a very young team though. After a long run at the top, Nashville has fallen on hard times the past couple of seasons as they are in rebuild mode.

Tampa Bay Thunder

Offense			1	Defense			1	Pitching
Category	Stat	Rank		Category	Stat	Rank		Category	Stat	Rank
Average	.272	5		Fielding %	.982	10		ERA	4.01	4
Home Runs	221	7		Double Plays	422	6		Opp. Avg.	.255	4
Ops.	.784	5		+ Plays	55	6		Strike Outs	1095	4
Runs	836	6		- Plays	30	6		Saves	41	11
Steals	134	10		1	1	1		1	1	1
Slugging	.441	7		1	1	1		1	1	1

Season 23 Record- 92-70(AL South Champ)
Last 5 Seasons- 448-362

5 tool player- Junior Yang- Yang has all of the tools. He has a good glove, good arm, good speed, good hitting and power. Some of the tools are better than the others, but he has them all. Most of his time in the field is spent at thirdbase, but he could play shortstop in a pinch. In 3 full seasons in the majors, Yang has 102 homers, 48 steals and a .281 average. This guys is young and just getting started. You can expect a pretty good career from this guy.

Staff Ace- Claude Collins- Collins has the talents to be a regular all star and Cy Young candidate. Up to this point in his career that has happened much, but he is truly the ace on this staff. He regularly eats up over 200 innings. He has a great K/IP ratio and has held hitters at bay with a career .242 OAV. His 3.27 ERA last season was the second best of his career over a full season and could be a sign that this guy is starting to realize his abilities. At 31 years old, he still has plenty of time to rack up some hardware.

Offense- Tampa featured a pretty good offense last season and things are shaping up good for them again this season. They have some really good hitters in this lineup and even have some good power. The free agent signing of Brian Sveum will add to the potency. Yang, Christian Lee, Phil Shibata and Robert Wallace are just some of the names featured for the Thunder. They are going to be a tough offense to stop this season and they are a young group for the most part.

Defense-This is a weakness. The have good range at most positions and good gloves, but they lack an ideal shortstop or centerfielder. Fautino Guerrero is the likely shortstop and he lacks the ideal glove for the position. He has the arm to make up for it though. I don't see anyone that stands out as the centerfielder, but plenty of guys can fill the spot decent enough. This is an average offense.

Pitching-This team has a really good pitching staff heading into the season. Claude Collins, Bo Carter and Oscar Osterbrock will anchor the top of this rotation. Heinie Hutton, Curtis Bannister and Craig Tomlinson are pretty good back end of the rotation pitchers as well. The bullpen features Tony Zapata, Frank Murphy, Tony Perez and Joaquin Gallardo holding things down. This is a really good bullpen and mixed with the rotation, Tampa is going to be tough to score on this season.


Projection-Everything is looking good for Tampa Bay this season. The defense is the weakness, but it's solid enough that the strengths of this team won't be held back due to it. This team looks poised to take another division title and could challenge for an AL title even.




New Orleans Zephyrs

Offense			1	Defense			1	Pitching
Category	Stat	Rank		Category	Stat	Rank		Category	Stat	Rank
Average	.262	16		Fielding %	.987	3		ERA	4.66	8
Home Runs	259	3		Double Plays	448	3		Opp. Avg.	.275	10
Ops.	.783	6		+ Plays	95	3		Strike Outs	1039	9
Runs	836	6		- Plays	26	3		Saves	55	2
Steals	160	5		1	1	1		1	1	1
Slugging	.456	2		1	1	1		1	1	1

Season 23 Record- 90-72(Wild Card)
Last 5 seasons- 396-414

MVP- Sam Slotnick- Why does this guy get the title MVP? Well that should be obvious by now. Last season, Slotnick reeled in his third MVP award. He has also made 7 all star appearances and the guy is just 30 years old. He still has many productive seasons in front of him. With 446 career homers, he has a very good shot at becoming the all time leader when his career is wrapped up. Slotnick is a phenom and quite possibly the best overall hitter in Pine Tar.

Fireman-Jesus Amezaga- Amezaga has been a pretty good closer in his career. He has 250 saves in 313 tries. Over the past two seasons he has 72 saves in 78 tries, with 40 of those coming last season when he pulled in the AL fireman of the year award. Amezaga has put up some pretty good numbers in his career, but one number really stands out to me and that is his strike outs of 948 in just 964 career innings. This guy is a premier late inning arm.

Offense-New Orleans featured a pretty good offense last season, but the team average was the lowest in the AL. I'm not expecting much different this season. They lack really good hitters on this team. They do have some guys that will draw a walk and hit the ball out of the park. Slotnick is one of the best in the league at that. Mix in Henry Siddall, Braden Fussell, Ismael Morales, Samuel Wallace and Bernard Charleston and they have a pretty solid offense. This offense is pretty good, but they just won't hit for a high average.

Defense-The numbers indicate this was a top 3 defense last season. They have a really good glove at shorstop in Vin Hernandez and a good backup in Eduardo Tabata. Morales is the centerfielder and he lacks good range, but he makes up for it with a really good glove. The have good range all around the field and solid gloves as well. This is a really good defense.

Pitching-The pitching staff is a weakness for this team. Everth Benitez is the ace of the staff and he would be a solid #3 on a good staff. Orlando Sanchez, and  Bucky Simpson are solid, but they are also pitching higher in the rotation than what should be expected from them. The bullpen does feature a shut down closer in Amezaga though. The problem is that they lack the setup guys to get it to him. This pitching staff has a few nice arms, but it's not a good staff when put together.

Projection-The Zephyrs took big steps forward last season and they have the defense and offense to continue that. They could really use some better pitching to combine with that though. This pitching staff could cause them to take some steps back this season. I'm just not sure how to project this team. They could be good enough to challenge for a wild card or bad enough to get a top 10 pick next season. It just depends on how things fall for them.

San Juan Pollos Hermanos

Offense			1	Defense			1	Pitching
Category	Stat	Rank		Category	Stat	Rank		Category	Stat	Rank
Average	.271	6		Fielding %	.977	16		ERA	5.07	12
Home Runs	246	4		Double Plays	468	1		Opp. Avg.	.282	12
Ops.	.796	3		+ Plays	26	16		Strike Outs	1120	3
Runs	875	4		- Plays	58	16		Saves	42	8
Steals	146	8		1	1	1		1	1	1
Slugging	.451	4		1	1	1		1	1	1

Season 23 Record- 79-83
Last 5 seasons- 397-413

Offensive Building Block-Ralph Hatcher- Hatcher is a young slugging outfielder. In 2 1/2 seasons in the league he has 99 career homers heading into this season and has 3 seasons of 30+. His career .268 average is expected to rise and his .356 obp is not quite what I'd expect from him either. At 26 years old, he is a really good central piece of a lineup to add extra parts around.

Golden Glove- Desi Vasquez- In 571 career games, the outfielder Vasquez has committed just 2 errors. 1 of those errors came in his first season while playing rightfield. The other was in leftfield. He has the glove to play centerfield, but he lacks the range. Without the ability to go back and check the records, I'm going to assume that the errors were on throws back to the infield since his arm accuracy isn't as good as his glove.

Offense-The Pollos Hermanos featured a pretty good offense last season that hit for a decent average and provided some fireworks. This is still a pretty good team offensively. Ralph Hatcher,Colby Rogers, Dennis Kirk, Masao Saitou, Harvey Merrick Allen Gruber, John Davidson, Chalres Yoshii, Fausto Espinosa and Desi Vasquez  are all really good hitters and make this a dangerous lineup. This team is loaded with good hitting and should boast one of the top offenses in the AL.

Defense-San Juan sacrifices defense for offense. The ranked at the bottom of the AL last season and don't look much better this season. They lack a good shortstop and most positions are filled with players that will struggle in the field. Colby Rogers is the exception at secondbase. Desi Vasquez has a great glove, but he lacks the range to play centerfield. This is not a very good defense overall though.

Pitching-The pitching ranked near the bottom of the league last season. Shane Osik is a really good young pitcher at the top of the rotation, but he lacks the stamina to make it deep into games. Gerardo Morales is a solid starter as well and he underperformed last season. I'd expect more from him this season. Giovanni Magnuson is another good young starter that fits nice in the middle of the rotation. The rotation is solid, but not great. The bullpen features Willie Fisher and Mike Franklin, but little else. This is the true weakness of the staff. Overall, the pitching is close to average, but maybe a bit below.

Projection-San Juan is going to struggle to hang near the top of this division without an upgrade to the pitching staff. The defense is their real weakness though and even an upgrade to the pitching might not be enough without the gloves behind them to back them up. They do have a really good offense and that will likely keep them competitive. I think this team has potential, but this season looks like it may be another season hovering around .500.




Nashville Nalas

Offense			1	Defense			1	Pitching
Category	Stat	Rank		Category	Stat	Rank		Category	Stat	Rank
Average	.276	4		Fielding %	.984	8		ERA	5.58	14
Home Runs	198	12		Double Plays	463	2		Opp. Avg.	.292	14
Ops.	.772	9		+ Plays	55	6		Strike Outs	984	13
Runs	828	8		- Plays	56	15		Saves	45	6
Steals	137	9		1	1	1		1	1	1
Slugging	.430	10		1	1	1		1	1	1

Season 20 record- 71-91
Last 5 seasons- 458-362

The Veteran- Heinie Rice-That label is putting it mildly. Rice is a veteran, but he is so much more. He has 536 career homers, 1548 rbi, 1186 runs and a .307 average. He's won a rookie of the year, a Home Run Derby Championship 3 times, 6 Allstar appearances, 2 World Series rings, and 2 MVP awards. Rice is very likely a future Hall of Famer.

Batter Eye- Juan Latos- Latos has been the model of consistency at getting on base. In 8 out of his 10 seasons, he has had an OBP of over 400. His career .411 is an amazing feat. He has also walked 800 times compared to just 623 strike outs. Latos is the ideal top of the lineup hitter.

Offense-Nashville may be rebuilding, but their offense still ranked above average last season. Rice is still the star of the offense, but they also have Juan latos, Chris Young, Jose Fernandez and David Lind. These players help give the Nalas a pretty good lineup.

Defense-Last season this team had an average defense. I don't think they even look average this season. They lack a true shortstop and a true centerfielder. This defense will likely rank among the worst in the league this season.

Pitching-The pitching staff is a wreck right now. The rotation features some below average starters and the ace looks to be Harry Munson. Munson is better suited as a mid rotation pitcher. The bullpen is better with Felix Nakajima, and Apollo Fletcher, but not much better. Outside of those two they don't have much help in the pen. This pitching staff is going to struggle this season.

Projection-Nashville is going to struggle this season, but ownership expects that. The team is in rebuild mode and they will likely stick to it for the next couple of seasons. The good thing for them is that they still have some good pieces to move if they want to try to pick up some more prospects.



Predictions
This division seems pretty straight forward to me. I don't expect much to change from last season. Tampa Bay features the best team of the bunch and they look like a team that could even make a run at the AL title. New Orleans aren't too far off from Tampa, but they still have some holes that need fixed to be able to make a serious run at the top spot. San Juan appears to have the same issues as New Orleans, but they are a little worse off. Not too much worse though, as I expect them to have a close to even record and if things break their way could push them into a wild card race. Nashville is a team that is rebuilding and won't be challenging the other teams this season.

1. Tampa Bay Thunder
2. New Orleans Zephyrs
3. San Juan Pollos Hermanos
4. Nashville Nalas

Season 24-AL West Preview

St Louis has had a good team for most of the past 7 seasons, but nobody could have seen last season coming. It was only the fifth time that they had won the division and second time making the LCS. As a matter of fact, only one other team in the division has seen one LCS appearance and that was the Salem franchise back in season 1, when they won the World title. Well, St Louis matched that feat and became the second team in the division to make and win a World Series. The 97 regular season wins were especially impressive after only winning 70 the previous season. Vancouver was the returning division champion, but they missed out on the post season. It may have been a disappointing season, but they improved their record by 6 games from the previous season. That marked 5 straight seasons that the team improved in the win column. Los Angeles improved again as they are on the way up as well. They improved by 5 games over the previous season to win the most games that they have won since season 17 when they won 79 games. Salem was the only team in the division to regress as they dropped 13 more games than they did in season 22. This team is in an obvious rebuild as owner jkenned will hopefully add some much needed stability in ownership so that the team can do that successfully.



St Louis Arch Angels

Offense			1	Defense			1	Pitching
Category	Stat	Rank		Category	Stat	Rank		Category	Stat	Rank
Average	.268	11		Fielding %	.982	10		ERA	3.90	3
Home Runs	235	5		Double Plays	320	16		Opp. Avg.	.251	2
Ops.	.781	7		+ Plays	37	14		Strike Outs	1289	1
Runs	816	9		- Plays	31	7		Saves	57	1
Steals	199	3		1	1	1		1	1	1
Slugging	.445	6		1	1	1		1	1	1

Season 20 record- 97-65(AL West Champ, AL Champ, World Champ)
Last 5 seasons- 413-397

Up and Coming Star- Calvin Pecina- Pecina is a 23 year old player that will be playing his second full season in the majors this season. He's a DH type player, but his hitting abilities will help him solidify that role in St Louis. He batted a .333 with a .408 obp last season and added 27 homers. Those are numbers that should be expected from him year in and year out if not more.

Staff Ace- Rock Randall- It was a breakout season for Randall in season 23. He had 20 wins and only 7 losses in 33 starts. His 2.91 ERA and .231 Oav were great numbers, but his 210 K's in 210 1/3 IP standout as phenomenal. Not only that, the guy is a 3 time gold glove winning pitcher. Randall is an innings eating power pitcher that should rack up quite a bit of hardware in his career.


Offense-Offensively this team isn't great. They do have power and speed though. They could use some more hitters that can get on base for the power guys to knock home. The top threats in their lineup are Aurelio Canseco, Calvin Pecina, Bryan Holmes, and Lou Jefferies. O.T. Harper is the speed threat and he is a good contact hitter. I think they need more guys that can hit for average as this right now is an average offense.

Defense-This team looks below average defensively. They promoted rookie shortstop Stephen Salmon, and he provides a really good glove at that spot. Lou Jefferies still has the glove for third base, but he lacks arm accuracy and will throw away some balls. Jim Carter is the only option for centerfield and he lacks the ideal range or glove. I can find flaws with almost every spot in the field. As things stand right now this team is hurting defensively.

Pitching-Pitching wins championships and this team proved that last season. They have one of the best rotations in Pine Tar. Randall, Jim Kelly and Sean Shipley could be aces on any team. Vinny Napoli would be a really good #2 on most teams and he's slotted fourth here. The bullpen isn't quite as good, but they only need to be average with the rotation in front of them. This is a great pitching staff.

Projection-Winning the World Series again is obviously the goal and they don't look much different than last season. I think the defense holds them back and the offense is only decent. They do feature the rotation of a championship club and they will lean heavily on them again. This is a team that should win 90+ games, but I'm going to hold off on projecting them to win another World title.



Vancouver Canucks

Offense			1	Defense			1	Pitching
Category	Stat	Rank		Category	Stat	Rank		Category	Stat	Rank
Average	.264	14		Fielding %	.985	4		ERA	3.87	2
Home Runs	222	6		Double Plays	425	5		Opp. Avg.	.245	1
Ops.	.772	9		+ Plays	63	5		Strike Outs	1028	10
Runs	775	12		- Plays	27	4		Saves	47	4
Steals	81	13		1	1	1		1	1	1
Slugging	.437	8		1	1	1		1	1	1

Season 20 record- 89-73
Last 5 seasons- 359-451

Door Slammer-Phil Linton- Linton is entering his fourth season in the league and he's gotten better in each season up to this point. He has pitched in more than half of his teams games in each season and has been over 100 innings in the past two. Last season his ERA dropped down to a career best 2.96 and he posted a 1.06 WHIP. He has mainly been a setup man, but last season moved into the closer role to save 20 games. No matter if he's used in the 8th or 9th inning, this guy will help shut the door on opponents late game come back attempts.

Dominican Hammer-Vicente Feliz- Feliz signed with Vancouver as an IFA back in season 21 and has quickly ascended to the majors. In his rookie season, he hit 25 doubles, 29 homers and batted a .259 with 75 RBI and 80 runs scored. He has 40 homerun potential and should see his batting average climb. This guys game is built around his great power and solid contact.


Offense-This team is not going to hit for a high average. They have solid hitters, but I think the team average takes a step back from last season. Pedro Gomez is the best player at getting on base, but he's more suited for the 2 hitter role. I think they really lack a leadoff man that will get on base at a high clip. The team does have some pop though. Besides Feliz, they also have Willie Williams, Kenny Fox and Mendy Lee than can hit the ball out. I'm going to have to grade this team below average as things stand.

Defense-The defense in Vancouver is good. McEnerney has an elite glove in centerfield. The addition of David Prieto gives them a really good glove at shortstop. Dante Ueno has real good range for shortstop, but he makes too many errors. He could make for a great second baseman though. The team even has a good pitch calling catcher in Tanner Hatcher and Kenny Fox is pretty good as well. This isn't a great defense, but it is good.

Pitching-Vancouver finished near the top of the league in pitching last season. The rotation is the strength of this team. John Rucker, Brad Porter, Bill Crabtree, Malik Sele, and Felix Mabry make for a really good rotation. The bullpen features Phil Linton, Willie Fuentes and free agent addition Chico Guerrero. This overall is a pretty good pitching staff.

Projection-Last season I predicted that this team would finish just below 90 wins and I was dead on. With the way things stand now, I doubt they'll get to 90 wins again. The thing with this team is that they have a few prospects on the verge of making the majors that could get them over 90 wins. This is a team to watch this season. I think they'll contend for the division title or could possibly steal a wild card spot.

Los Angeles Regulators

Offense			1	Defense			1	Pitching
Category	Stat	Rank		Category	Stat	Rank		Category	Stat	Rank
Average	.270	8		Fielding %	.985	4		ERA	4.40	6
Home Runs	166	15		Double Plays	406	12		Opp. Avg.	.264	7
Ops.	.733	15		+ Plays	85	4		Strike Outs	1049	8
Runs	727	14		- Plays	29	5		Saves	35	13
Steals	307	1		1	1	1		1	1	1
Slugging	.399	15		1	1	1		1	1	1

Season 20 record- 72-90
Last 5 seasons- 329-481

ROY watch-Tim Daubach- Daubach was drafted third overall in season 21 and has found himself on the big league roster just 3 seasons later. He has really good control, should shut down both left and right handed hitter and has good velocity. He features 3 really solid pitches and won't give up many homers. He lacks the stamina that a team would like from an ace, but he'll do good enough at getting outs that he could end up close to 200 innings anyway.

Professional hitter-Bret Richardson-Richardson is the definition of a true hitter. He can hit for a .300 average, draw a ton of walks and hit for power. In 3 out of 4 seasons he has hit over 20 homers, batted over .300 and had over a .400 OBP. He had one off season in season 22, but that looks like it was just an off season for him. After 4 seasons he has a career .305 average, .428 OBP and only 237 strikeouts to go with 387 walks.

Offense-Los Angeles has a better offense than what the numbers suggest. They do lack much power, but they can get on base. Richardson, Bo Long, Rickie Lawrence, Jake Ashley, and Bip Rodgers are all good hitters. The promotions of Ernest Bailey, and Lariel Gutierrez will add to the offenses abilities. What this team lacks in power, they more than make up for in speed. This has been the best base stealing team in the league over the past few seasons. The group of Yusmeiro Veras, Rico Mendoza, Del Broome and Edwin Reese will steal a lot of bases. I think this team has the potential to be an above average team offensively.

Defense-Defense is the name of the game in LA. The team will feature an above average to great glove at almost every position this season. The one position that won't is shorstop. Lyle Tipton has good range and a good glove, but his arm strength and accuracy is going to cause some problems at the position. Del Broome though, is a great centerfielder and I'm shocked that he has not won a gold glove at least once. Edwin Reese will make for a great second baseman or left fielder. Veras is a really good third baseman or right fielder. The same could be said for Ernest Bailey. This team should be one of the top defensive teams this season regardless of the shortstop.

Pitching-The addition of Daubach really helps out this pitching staff. They were above average last season and that could put them even higher. The rotation is solid with Daubach, Magglio Figureoa, Chico Pineda, and Alcides Martin. The addition of Alex Guerrero through free agency adds an aging pitcher that could still start, but is best used in relief. The bullpen is pretty good though. Bob Hill, Todd Washington, Nigel Parrish, and Wesley Landrum are a good group to have coming in during the late innings. This is a pretty solid pitching staff overall and should finish even better this season than last.

Projection-Los Angeles is still an improving team and they should take steps forward this season. This team also has a couple players in the minors that could really improve them. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see this team challenge for the division title, but I think that they will finish above .500 for sure.


Salem Volcanoes

Offense			1	Defense			1	Pitching
Category	Stat	Rank		Category	Stat	Rank		Category	Stat	Rank
Average	.265	13		Fielding %	.985	4		ERA	5.30	13
Home Runs	261	2		Double Plays	417	8		Opp. Avg.	.295	15
Ops.	.777	8		+ Plays	54	8		Strike Outs	999	12
Runs	805	10		- Plays	38	8		Saves	29	15
Steals	31	16		1	1	1		1	1	1
Slugging	.450	5		1	1	1		1	1	1

Season 20 record- 63-99
Last 5 seasons- 373-437

Fire Power- Rafael Vincente- Vincente is a second year player that can crush a ball. He has really good power and can hit righties as well as lefties. In his rookie campaign, he hit 35 homers, drove in 90 runs, scored 94 runs, batted a .295, with a .349 OBP. Very impressive numbers for this slugger. He probably over achieved with the average because he will swing and miss a lot, but I expect the power numbers to be there every season.

Young Hurler- Jose Marquez- Marquez signed as an IFA in season 21 and will make his debut this season. He has great stamina and durability and should eat up a lot of innings this season. His control is a bit of a concern and his velocity doesn't help. He does feature a really good first pitch and two other good pitches to go with it. He should also be tough to hit from both sides of the plate. Things could go either way with Marquez and it will be interesting to see how he pitches this season.

Offense-Salem features a pretty solid offense. They have plenty of guys with plus power. The guys driving this offense are Vincente, Rheal Beck, Pat Rocker, Herm Terrell and Jim Christman. That is a pretty good group in the middle of the order. They do lack a true leadoff hitter that can get on base and set the table for these guys. The addition of a player like that could vault this team from above average to real good.

Defense-This team is below average defensively. Pedro Berroa is a good shortstop, but he doesn't have good range. He has the glove and arm though to go with solid range. The team could use a real centerfielder. Nobody on the team right now has good range or the glove for the spot. They do have a couple options at third with Domingo James or Gio Valdez. Both could play the spot well and they could also make for good right fielders.

Pitching-This team doesn't have very good pitching. Marquez could be good, but the rest of the rotation isn't. Paxton Weiland is solid, but he's not a number 2, and the same could be said of Miguel Lee, and Javy Solano. In the bullpen, Omar Colon, Alfonso Diaz, Felipe Lee, Steve Perez, and Esteban Cantu make for a solid set of arms. They aren't great, but they can get the job done and keep things close. The bullpen is much better than the rotation and the only thing saving this team from rating as a bad pitching staff.

Projection-This is a team that is rebuilding. I think it's a good thing that they can be competitive while doing so and they should be able to compete with what they have. They should be able to finish close to the record that they had last season. This team needs to continue on the rebuild path for a couple of seasons and restock the minors with some good talent that will help them down the road.



Predictions
This division is getting tougher. The days of them having a team barely break .500 and winning the division are over. There are 3 teams now that will be challenging in this division and pushing each other to the top. St Louis is the returning World Champ, so they by default are the favorite. They will be tough to knock off due to the pitching staff alone, but the weaknesses on this team are enough to let another team slip by them. Vancouver is on the way up and made some improvements in the off season. They have a few players that might be making their ML debuts this season and could really push them into contention. Los Angeles is on the move up as well. They may still be a season away as some of the young players continue to get better, but I think they have enough to make a push this season. They should at least end up battling for a wild card spot. Salem is a team that is rebuilding and will likely not compete in the division. The best plan of action for them is to continue on this path for a few seasons and then start making a move when they have real pieces in place to do so.

1. St Louis
2. Vancouver
3. Los Angeles
4. Salem