AROUND THE LEAGUE 1-29-16

We are a little over a week into the season now and I want to take a look at some things around the league that may be of interest. Usually this is the time of the season that teams will promote their future stars to the big leagues. After game 20 teams save a year of arbitration so this is the perfect time to do it. I'll list some key promotions that have taken place, some key injuries and also some notes about stats.


PROMOTIONS
Pedro Contreras- Jacksonville Juice
Contreras is a left fielder/1b type player that has solid power and a great batting eye. He will hit good against left handed pitchers, but is likely to struggle against righties. He was drafted by Jacksonville with the 17th pick overall in the season 31 draft. He still has some room to grow, but he's close to reaching his potential at this point.

Karim Ontiveros- Jacksonville Juice
Ontiveros is a centerfielder with decent range and glove. At the plate he make good contact and has good power. His batting eye and ability to hit are not very good. He won't have a high batting average or OBP, put he should be able to put the ball in play and provide some pop. Ontiveros was signed as an IFA by Jacksonville in season 29. He has likely reached his potential.

Santo Baez-Louisville ARF ARF ARF ARF's
Santo is a left fielder with a good bat. He won't put up great numbers, but Baez should be a nice addition to the lineup. With decent contact, power and batting eye, he should provide some good numbers. He was signed as an IFA by Louisville in season 29 and probably will not grow much more.

Jarrod Henley-Seattle Strikers
Henley is a shortstop/2b/centerfielder. He has great range and great arm strength for any position. He has a solid glove for shortstop, but he'd be a great 2B. Offensively he has great contact and average power. His batting eye is bad and he won't hit for even a decent average. Henley was a 2nd round 63rd overall selection by Wichita in the season 28 draft. He has pretty much reached his potential.


Other notable callups-
Dustan Fletcher-El Paso Walkers
Tyrone Milligan-Colorado Wildcats
Paulie Sparks-Seattle Strikers
Vin Gray-Oklahoma City Prairie Dogs
Slick Maurer-Durham Doormats


KEY INJURIES
Pedro Sanchez-Colorado Wildcats
Dave Coleman-San Juan Marichals


CONTRACT EXTENSIONS
Aurelio Ozuna-Salem Volcanoes
Hades Phillips-El Paso Walkers
Willie Fisher-El Paso Walkers



INTERNATIONAL SIGNINGS
Naoki Martin-Tampa Bay Thunder
Martin has been the highest paid IFA so far. He projects to be a centerfielder with great range and really good glove and a solid bat with speed. I think he's a bit overpaid, but the market decides that and so far he's one of the best to come through.

Pedro Mota-St Louis Miracles
Mota projects as a good starting pitcher. I think he was a steal in the IFA market for the Miracles. His potential to me looks like a 3 starter and possibly a 2. He has good split projections, decent control and 3 average pitches.

Vic Torcato-Colorado Springs Iron Horseman
This was a nice signing, but not great. The value was good, but he's not a future star. He should have average power, decent splits, but his batting eye worries me a bit. He has a great glove, but his range doesn't project very high. With a solid arm I think he will end up as a third baseman or right fielder.


OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE
Dante Pong-Durham Doormats
Through 25 games, Pong has hit 13 homers to lead the league and is hitting for a .302 average, .343 obp and .750 slugging.

Michael Pena-Salem Volcanoes
Pena is on fire, hitting a .389 to lead Pine Tar, and has a .436 obp and .741 slugging. He's also added 12 doubles, 8 homers, and 13 steals.

Benny Villano-El Paso Walkers
Villano leads the league in opponent average with a .124, is second in ERA with a 1.36 and leads in WHIP with a .73 while adding 3 wins in 6 starts.

Apollo Fletcher-Seattle Strikers
Fletcher leads the league in saves with 10 in 10 tries and has a .90 WHIP, and 1.80 ERA in 10 games.

Chan Won-Houston Roughnecks
Won leads the league in pinch hits with 13 already and has done that in 21 at bats while also hitting 3 pinch hit homeruns.

Season 34 Introduction

Sorry that the previews won't be as in depth as in the past. My schedule has been extremely full lately and I'm just hoping to be able to get through all of the divisions. I know that the previews are fun and add flavor to one of the best leagues in HBD and I really wish I could devote more time to them. My plan is to have a summary for each team and a grade for Offense, Defense and Pitching as usual, but I'm not really going to dive too much into why I graded them as such. I hope that doesn't take away from the quality very much. At least it will be something. I'll also do my division predictions.

Over the last few seasons it seems like we have had a higher turnover than in the past. I'm not sure if it's the changes that WIS made or if it's more that people are losing interest in the game. I must admit, my interest isn't what it used to be, but after dropping down to 1 team about a year ago, I did start to gain some interest again. To me, the fun has always been in rebuilding and seeing how that plan paid off. A big problem with that is when the plan pays off poorly and then you have to start over. Many people hate the initial stages of rebuilding and it is a pain. Trades rarely net a good return when you are trying to rebuild. Prospects are too tough to come by. That is what I see as the biggest problem with the game. Quality is always better than quantity because too often you know how a player is going to end up. That is why I like the new system of hidden growth and advanced scouting meaning more. It gives you a reason to trade for quantity and hope that what you got has a better shot at turning out. The big problem with that is the team you are trading with has the advantage since they know how that player has progressed. If HBD is going to ever get past that point then they need a new progression system rather than hidden ratings. Hiding the rating progression is just a lazy way of fixing a greater problem. Hopefully they get that figured out since it does seem like they are putting a little bit of time into the game lately. I'd like to hear some others opinions on this and the reason we've lost people.

Finally, as many know, we had an owner terribly miss the win minimum last season. This is the second season in a row that it has happened to an owner and both seasons the majority league response was to give a probation to the owner. This season skuff, is on a probation and required to reach 70 wins. I know that 70 wins will leave skuff short of the win minimum again, but it is a realistic number to reach. Last season was really bad, and it was a rarity for this owner. While not acceptable, I do believe that one really bad season is not enough to make a difference for a team. He didn't have a really low payroll and spend on big IFA's. The only real benefit is the 1st pick this season and that is it. One player will not start a dynasty. skuff is a long time coach in the league that has had a competitive team for the previous 10 seasons. I believe this is fair. If any others have a problem with it then tc me and we will discuss it.

Thanks for being such a great league and a great group of owners.