Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Season 22 AL Preview


AL North




As always I start with the greatest Division in Kaline, the AL North.







The Millers are returning the same basic core of players that saw them back in the world series. They are headed by one of the very best pitching staff in all of baseball. The bats were a little slow to get started last season but they did start hitting really well in the second half. The bullpen did take a hit with Max Encarnacion being traded away, but it is still a solid group to fall back on. The Millers are always one of the best teams with the gloves.




















Pawtucket had a very strong season even sweeping the Baybirds in the postseason last year. They bring a starter that gives them a good chance to win every game. They have an amazing bullpen that can hold leads very well. The line up is has plenty of plus .800 ops hitters and cam match up with just about any other teams hitters. They also have a strong defensive tradition.



















Seattle surpassed my expectations last season by making the playoff. This is one of the up and coming teams that will push for top seeds in the very near future. An incredible defense helps out a below average pitching staff. If your going to go with this type of rotation this is the field you want and the gloves behind you that you want. This team is stacked with good hitters that might be league leaders due to the park factors but they will hit. As is the norm in the AL North bullpen is another strong spot on the team.



Key players: David Bolivar, Jake Jennings, Tony "Two Timing" Tavarez





No team has had more shit luck then Detriot when free agency rolls around. Both of their top players declined their options and head to new team. Add in last season departure of Big Bad Bryce and you have a team in need. They should be about middle of the pack or just above in hitting. Pitching has really taken a huge hit and needs a complete face lift after having the best one two punch in the game. The pen is good enough to hold most leads but a few might get away. Defensively they are looking to be in the bottom five to me at quick glance.
Key players: Keith "The Thief" Haad, Cecil Seneca, Macbeth Billingsley

Final standings


Millers 95-99 wins
Seattle 92-96 wins
Pawtucket 91-96 wins
Detriot 58-62 wins














































Wednesday, November 2, 2011

FA Black Bet Class

You need to have both the Trade Proposal screen up (everyone knew that part) and wait for it, wait for it, World Office->Finances->Franchise Payroll Analysis up.
The Trade Proposal screen gives you the current budget with FA Negotiations like it says at the bottom above submit proposal.
The Franchise Payroll screen give you the actual current budget that is being paid to the current players.
So lets talk about Tacoma quick if you go to Tacoma on the trade screen and then click on the franchise itself you will see that their team is current paying the players 59 million right now. On the trade screen you see that their Budget is 79 million. So we now know that they have a huge offer out because of the 20 million difference. Now on the Franchise payroll screen we can go and check out what they have to pay next season and we see that they have 29.8 in current salary for next season. Flip back to the trade screen and we see that they have 53 million in season 23. Quick math and the difference is about 23 million. That is more then the max bid but you have to dig a bit and see that Wilkin Vega was extended for next season for a little over 3 million so we know that he still has 20 million out for the next season. Repeat for season 24. trade screen says 32.4 million Franchise screen says 12.4. Another 20 million Season 25 and 26 both are sladed for 0 budget right now on the franchise screen and on the trade screen we see 20 million apiece. So we know that he has at least 100 million over 5 year still out in free agentcy. We know that the max you can offer a player is 100 million over 5 years. WE know that Dick Randall is the only player currently worth a max bid in FA so we can assume that Tacoma has an offer to Big Dick of at least 100 million.
Does this make sense to every reader I have all 5 of you?
So the quick way to check it out. Go to the trade proposal screen start with the first team and hit go look at the current seasons new click on the team name and check what they are paying the players right now. If it is the same or close enough to it move on to the next team and repeat until you find a big jump in the number. When you find a big jump you can check out the Franchise Payroll screen and do the math and find out how much they are spending. There is guess work for sure for the second tier FA like this season with Hartman Xavier and Tatum but if you have a strong offer for one of them out there and you are not winning of were just over taken and you have been tracking every teams spending you will have a very good idea on who has jumped over you.
One thing to keep in mind is doing all this information gathering will not give you any bonus information. You will have to straight guess at that. One thing that can help you out though is if they are very close to the top budget. Let say that they are 4 million away from their top. Now you know that there is no way for them to give out more the that for that player. If you have a question or this does not make any sense feel free and ask. I would ask that you please not link this to other owners though and keep the FA black bets to Kaline owners only. But now I have given you good information and if you feel like sharing it I guess that is up to you.

Free Agent spending

Bonus money is not included.

Boston has a contract out worth about 68.5 million over 5 years. My Guess is he is looking at picking up pitcher Hank Xavier.

Buffalo is looking at a 69 million offer over 4 years. Probably has the same pitcher in mind.

Charleston Has a near max bid out unless he has two bids. I am thinking that he is holding a Big Dick Randall offer.

Detroit has a 60 million offer out and I think Cody Tatum is his target now. Could also be Kirt Hartman but that would be a huge contract for him.

Fargo 62.5 contract might be an effort in bringing in Tatum.

Houston is also floating around a mid 60 million offer. Must be for Tatum.

Indianapolis has a smaller 5.5x5 offer out.

Philly has a mess of things going on but I would bet 100x5 or very close to is up for Big Dick.

Salem Has the max bid in on Randall. Might have a little #1 next to them too.

Scottsdale has about 9.5x5 for someone. I don't know who is around there. I think it is a holding offer.

Tacoma has a max bid in as well and with the guys left we know who that will be.

So there it is two max bids from what I saw quick. Salem and Tacoma. Philly is holding a big bid. I think there is a bunch of teams in on the other big three left and all are going to make in the mid 60s to 70s after the next cycle.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Season 22 Kick-Off

The trade forcast


With only about twenty trades total each of the last season two seasons, teams have seemed to want to biuld from with in. That is one great approach to winning games but the flip side of that coin is an arbitration mess. Teams like Baltimore, Wichita, Scottsdale, Pawtown, Houston, Helena, Fargo, and Detroit all in a bit of an aritration mess with the payroll hike. On top of those team other teams have a few players whose numbers sky rockets in the 3rd year. So what does all this mean? I think that it means more trades early. Also the free agent market is solid but not great and prices are going to get bloated for average to good players. I am betting that we come close to doubling last season trade total with those to storms coming.


War chests


Philadelphia is sitting at about 90 million spent already this season but with actually means that they have about 55-60 million in disposable free agent cash on hand. Hineiii is always busy in the open market so look for a 110 million dollar contract added to this team for sure this season. Can you say Luther Hutton.


Buffalo will take a few hits on a couple of players leaving via FA but in turn they will get tons of extra spending cash. Last season they budgeted 90 million and if they hit that same number that will give them about 40 million to on the open market. This team is in great shape to make a run with the right addition.


Salem also has a huge amout of extra cash on hand. about 45-55 million if they go with last season number.


That is all I am going to dig for until budgets are set. After budgets are set and FA are announced I will have my annual Free Agent Report ready.


Notes and Thoughts and Stuff


If Baltimore does not make a trade they might have a franchise pay-roll record this season.


Honolulu has the first pick in the draft for the second striagt season. That is the first time since The Rochester Nighthawks(Now Seattle) tanked their way into a power house in season 5,6 and 7.


Chris Ray sits just 8 homeruns and 31 RBI short of the Kaline records. If he can find a team he should be able to get there. He is also about 90 hits away from the record. If someone could just give him one more season worth of at bats he will have the numbers to be the greatest hitting in the history of the world. If not second best will have to do.

Last season predictions results and I am good I must say... Sort of




AL North




The Minnesota Millers 98-102 wins



Really won 100




The Pawtucket Juggernauts 84-89 wins


Really Won 98 but finished 2nd




The Detroit Miracles 82-87 wins
Really won 82




Seattle Grunge 79-84 wins
Really Won 87 so close





The AL EastBaltimore 114-119
Really Won 123 how can you predict high then 120.


Indianapolis Devils 80-85 wins
Really Won 85




Kansas City Dingbats 80-85 wins
Really won 69 yuck bad ownership is what I blame my guess was good.



Cincinnati Red Legs 55-60 wins
Really Won 79. Good ownership I blame for my bad pick




The AL South



St. Louis Black Dynamites 98-102




Really Won 84 and missed the post season. I don't know


Durham Spitoons 86-91
Really Won 82 pretty close.




Memphis Packers 64-69




Really won 85 made the post season. I really have to spot picking agianst them.




Jackson Rollin Rebels 57-62 wins
Really Won 72




AL West



Scottsdale Slam 87-92 wins
Really won 85. They should have won a few more.



Helena Troy 65-70
Really won 57. Had a horrible start just terrible.



Honolulu Hoplites I must have missed my pickbut I must have been close

Really won 52



Colorado Springs Cougars 54-59 wins



Really won 57

NL Prediction season 21

Posted by Burning Bush on Wednesday, August 10, 2011
NL North
NL North Standings

Buffalo with 88-93 wins
Fargo with 88-93 wins
New York 86-91 wins
Montreal 79-84 wins

Real Standings

Fargo 88

New York 85
Buffalo Freeze 72

Montreal Otters 71




NL East Standing

Boston 83-88 wins
Philadephia 81-86 wins
Washington D.C. 71-76 wins
Richmond 67-72 wins

Real Standings

Philadelphia 78
Richmond Rebels 75
Boston Muffin Hawks 75
Washington D.C. 68

NL South

NL South Standings

Houston 100-105 wins

Charleston 89-94 wins

Charlotte 79-84 wins

Wichita 58-63 wins

Real Standings
Houston 103
Charleston 84
Wichita 76
Charlotte 71




NL West

NL West Standings


Sacramento 98-103 Wins

Salem 83-88 wins

Vancouver 81-86 wins

Las Vegas 55-60 wins

Real Standings
Sacramento Renegades 104
Salem EliteDucks 97
Vancouver Whitecaps 86
Las Vegas 62

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Linking Players into world and trade chat

Linking players

Posted by Burning Bush on Friday, January 7, 2011
Today is a non baseball related post. I am going to share with every one on how to link players into chats.

1.First thing you need to do is be able to click on a player profile.
2.After you click on the player profile look at the left side and under the blog there is a green + next to some binoculars.
3.Click on the green +.
4.After you click that a little head picture should show up.
5.You have now added that guy to you clipboard.
6.Now go over to the chat formate that you wanted to link the player to.
7.Under your text box you will see an up arrow over a little clipboard.
8.Click on that and there you go.
If you want feel free to test it in my trade chat box. I trade chat with just about every so give it a try

Monday, October 10, 2011

Play-Offs Round Two

Round One saw 3 game fives so that was a good time. Every team with a better record won each series though so no real upsets yet.





VS







I actually think this is a pretty good match-up. Paw-Town did lose Julio Barrios for the series but I don't think that will be any sort of major issue. The teams did split the regular season series and not very many teams can ever say that about their Baltimore record. Pawtucket has good enough hitting to hold their own against Baltimore. They also have a couple of nice starters that match up well with them too. Pawtucket does have a great starter to closer bridge to help hold leads. The issue is that they are playing Baltimore. the best hitting the history setting pitching team. They might be a touch weaker then some season but that still means they are only super great instead of invincible. I see this one going 5 with Baltimore moving on because of greater hitting.









VS






This is another match-up with teams that split the season series. What Seattle is missing is front line starting pitching but what they have is a ballpark and defense that can make up the difference for them. Seattle has the best fielding % in the AL to go along with their amazing 129 plus plays and only 15 minus plays. Five of the minus plays came from pitchers. Just amazing defense in a pitchers park. Seattle does not have the power that Minnesota has but they can work counts and get on base. When they get on base they like to run stealing 226 bags this season. Player to player Minnesota has the advantage. Better high end talent and pitching top to bottom. Minnesota is no push over in the field either so that advantage is mitigated some. I will take the Mighty Millers in 4. Big Bad Bryce McMillon starts game one in Baltimore.


Sacramento

VS

Salem

This is a great match-up as well but this time Sacramento has a 7-3 regular season record on their side. Sacramento has pitched crazy good all season and is hard to score on. Salem makes up for that with Superior fielding. Also Salem has hit better this season too. With that said though I do not think Sacramento losses this series. It will go five though.


Houston

VS

Fargo


Houston has the 6-4 season edge. I hope that Armando Ramirez can go in game one with Floyd "The Hit man" Mullen. That would be a great game for sure. Pitching is almost a push to me in this series. Both teams have high-end aces and #1 type second pitchers. Houston just has one more #1 type to avoid where Fargo is missing that. Both teams have had good bullpens this season and to me they are close enough to call it even. The away hitting stats are pretty close too but Houston has the long ball that I love so much to fall back on in case they need it. I am going to take Fargo in five though just to shake things up.


Next round if I am lucky enough to move on I will do a better run down also Look for my award voting and also the unsub awards later this week.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Clearer Pictures... Sort of

I would like to start with the major loss to the one of the Kaline world greatest, Hector Merced. He wont even be back as an ace again. If he can hold onto a spot on the voting I am going to give Merced a life time achievement vote for everything he has given Kaline. I will start the campaign now Vote For Hector!

Lets get over and check the NL first this time. With slim leads in the NL East and the NL West every game let matters even more. I am calling The north race now. Congrats Fargo your magic number is 8 with 13 to play. Also Houston clinched a few games ago so congrats on that. Also Congrats to Salem for locking up at least a wild card spot. I am also calling Vancouver to take the last spot.

Now the races! Both Sacramento and Salem are in it is just a matter of seeding. I am going to give the West to Sac-town. They just have better pitchers and now more so then ever that matters more. The schedule is about even on including playing the same two teams to end the season. The only thing holding them up a bit might be a motivated Philly team make a late season move.

NL East has Philly charging a bit. Charging in the east is really not that big of a deal this season but still winning 7 of the last ten puts them in good shape. Philly does have to fight through a Houston team for 3 more games. Then onto Salem before we get a 3 game set against Boston. i hope we still have a race to watch then. Side note maybe Richmond can steal it with an easy schedule but losing to Philly last series really hurt them.

So we have a seeding as such



  1. Houston



  2. Sacramento



  3. Fargo



  4. Philly



  5. Salem



  6. Vancouver



Really a respectable group of teams here and should be an interesting play-offs.




AL time Minnesota has locked up a play-off spot and Baltimore did it around the all star break. Also Pawtucket has a magic number of one to clinch the first wild card spot. Scottsdale clinched awhile ago congrats to the Slam. that leaves The North, South and second wild card spot.




AL North has Pawtucket hanging around but missing a chance to gain ground by losing that last 3 game set. Still they have Jackson and Helena left for seven more soft games though Helena has been better since their awful start. Minnesota has Scottsdale and they might be in rest mode and a terrible Colorado Springs team. Both teams wrap up with two teams fighting for the six spot. Of course i give it to Minnesota what do you think I am crazy!




AL South has St. Louis going up with Baltimore for three more games a four game set with Kansas City, Jackson and a three game set with Memphis. They are slipping a little. Memphis is taking control a bit while Durham could not get traction and slip in to the conversation more. Memphis has does not play a team below .500 the rest of the way. My pick is St.Louis here just because I think that they can make up the two games with a softer team ahead.


Second Wild card Spot. Wow Seattle now holds it. They play the north leaders both fighting for first round byes. If the race gets a little one sided they hit a break because both will be resting starters for the play-offs. If not they will need their a game to get in. If The Devils get get moving they might find themselves in a great spot to take this thing. If I give St. Louis the South then Memphis has to be right in here as a favorite. Basically right now I don't know it looks like 4 teams two spots for two and win or nothing for two. I am going to give it to Seattle because I hope to be resting my starters by the time we play!



  1. Baltimore

  2. Minnesota

  3. St. Louis

  4. Scottsdale

  5. Pawtucket

  6. Seattle

Good luck with that.


Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Ramblings and Stuff

I am starting to clog up the world chat a bit so I thought I should bring it here.
First the MVP Awards.
I have no problem with any of the three Baltimore guys to choose from. All three have great hitting lines and should be up for the voting.
Einar DeJesus really has had a very nice season. Personally I don't value stolen bases that much but for those that do he has 85 of them. He also the best hitting CF in the AL this season but I think that is more of a lack or CF talent then his abilities. He has played very good defense too and it you think defense and stolen base is your type of MVP this is your guy.
Cesar Gabriel is having his best hitting season ever. After playing In CF in Montreal he moved over to right and he has played very well there. He also has played 346 innings at third this season and has done great in those games with 9 plus plays to go along with his 8 in right. He has batted in the one whole all season getting things started for one of the best offense in the game. He will get my vote due to my policy of always voting for Mighty Millers. If he falls out of the race I will pick Albert The Noodle" Gonzalez.
Over in the NL My current Vote Goes to Jordan "Wimpy" Weiss. His combination of hitting and fielding are just too goof to overlook. Oh and maybe this is not noticed by everyone around the world but he is .003 batting average point away from a Traditional Triple Crown( I wish I could look up historic league leaders and see if its been done before if you know I would love to have that information).
David Gomez would be my second pick. He is the current Modern Triple Crown leader. I would normally instantly pick a player with that accomplishment but there is just something nostalgic about the Traditional one.
After the top two you have Davey "The Lady"Fick is having his worst offensive season since season 14. I didn't but should have look at park factors with his new team. Jim "Not" White does nothing for me. Felix"No Shame" Torrealba rounds it out and he would be a solid third this season. No shame in that those other two guys are playing great.
Voting snubs! WiS has a formula in place that picks who you can vote for for Season awards. The Formula is about the same one used to pick all stars. So if you get pissed every season about getting screwed out of All Stars the same thing will happen at the end of the season. WiS says this is how it is figured;
For batting awards, players must average 3.1 plate appearances per team game or more in order to qualify. Pitchers must average one inning pitched per team game. Position players must appear in 50% of their team's innings played to qualify for fielding awards.

Cy Young: Innings Pitched, Earned Runs, Strikeouts, Saves, Shutouts, Wins, Losses, Team Records and Park Factor.

MVP: Runs Created, Good Plays, Poor Plays, Fielding percentage, Park Factor, Position Played (difficulty), Passed Balls (catchers only)

Fireman of the Year: Saves, Wins, Losses, and Blown Saves

Gold Glove: Fielding percentage, good plays, poor plays, Errors, and Range Factor

Silver Slugger: Runs created and park factor

Rookie of the Year: Closely mimics the formula used for MVPs for position players and Cy Young for Pitchers. In order to be eligible for the ROY or NOY, a player must not have more than 150 career AB or 50 IP at the current level. For instance, if a player had 87 at-bats at the big league level in season 1 and 90 at-bats at the big league level in season 2, then he will not be eligible for the award in season 3 and beyond.

In each case, there are weights assigned to the individual components for the award calculation. While real life awards are decided by writers using the core raw stats and their personal opinion of how good/valuable players are (despite numerous objections by other esteemed writers across the land), HBD can use more appropriate statistics and accuracy to determine the best of the best.

If you think you have a player that should be up for an award but he isn't listed, be sure to evaluate all the component pieces and compare them to the players ranked ahead of them. It's hard to take sometime (like when you have a player with 55 HR, 150 RBI and a .340 AVG not in the top then), but there are always reasons why they are ranked where they are. They could be playing 1B while those ahead are SS & CF. They could be playing half their games in a hitter's park while those ahead play in pitcher's parks. Many reasons, all put together, and the best are at the top of the pack.



Lets go over this now shall we. For the Cy Young(last I checked the best pitcher in the league).







  • They look at innings pitcher. OK sure you need to pitch innings to win. Sounds fair so far I guess but how many? Oh I see 1 per game played. Well fine than don't have a real standard. So a team with a five man staff can have a pitcher go 5 innings every time and qualify. Well that is the bottom number I guess moving along.




  • Earned Runs... really you are going to take a stat based on the abilities of the pitchers defense behind him. I have see many times in this game where a pitcher will give up 4 unearned in an inning. Should a Cy Young winning Pitcher be able to get out of that inning with less damage. I believe so.




  • Strikeouts are sexy for sure. I love them and you love them but does striking a guy out really mean that your the best pitcher. If you have a bunch of innings and an average strikeout abilities you are going to have more strikeouts of course. Why not just use the K/9 ratio that you already have calculated.




  • Saves... what the fuck! Why on earth put saves in any sort of award. Saves are the most worthless statistic in baseball all together. It has created a thought process that you need to have you best bullpen arm in the game in the ninth inning alone. That thought process is not good for a winning team. Why would you not put your best bullpen arm in the most important game situation like a tie game in the seventh with a runner on second and no outs. Why put your second or third best relief pitching in the game when you could have your best. The Save stat is worthless trust me folks I really could go on and on about it. Oh and how the hell are you going to get the innings in that are required when you are trying to build up saves. Bullpen guys should not be able to receive this award they have their own to win.




  • Shutouts. I love it sounds good to me but why not include complete games too.




  • Wins and losses... I have as much venom for this stat as I do saves. To win a baseball game many many things need to go right. First and for most you need to have more runs than the other team. Now a starting pitcher has some influence in this but we already talked about earned runs right. What if your team around you sucks. The Pitcher can go out pitch brilliantly and lose. A pitcher can go out get shelled and win. It is a stat that the pitcher does not have enough influence with for me to add that to the Cy Young award.




  • Team Record!!!! Am I really looking for the best pitcher here. Now not only do I have to worry about the times the ace takes the hill I have to think about the other four guys and how they can screw/help a guy win an award. For me I just want the best pitcher not the best pitcher on a winning team only.




  • Park Factor should play into the outcome.


My Cy Young formula would be K/BB, K/9 OPS against, WHIP, Complete games and shutouts, Innings would have to play into it somehow and maybe just one inning a game is enough. Done with rant number one.



Now the MVP rant.







  • Runs Created I am fine with. I think that what is put into this formula is what I like to see from a MVP player.




  • Good plays/Poor Plays could be useful but there is such a huge issue in in this game for me. I could play a below average hitting shortstop at first and watch him get 30 plus plays. Or I could see an average second baseman that hits the cover off the ball and he could be 4/4. I will take the second baseman that crush over the sexy gloved first baseman any day. Fielding should absolutely count don't get me wrong but it has to be reasonable.




  • Fielding % should not be a factor. There are way too many different position in baseball that require different skill sets to allow this to matter here. I could have a guy playing short with 68 range and 99 glove. Yes his fielding % will be great but is he a better SS than an 85/85 guy. I do not believe that to be a true statement. I would rather have a guy get a few errors and get to the ball then a guy the doesn't get the ball but really picks up the easy ones well.




  • Park Factors again sure sounds fair.




  • Position played... What the fuck. In this game you can play any player anywhere anytime you want to. If the guy plays his position better then most and crushes the ball that is all that should matter. I would rather have the 7th best RF that hits like crazy then the best CF that hits 7th best for his position but fields the best. I love defense as you can see on my team and in my predictions. But it gets a little crazy here.




  • Passed balls for the catcher. Why hate on the catchers!


I think MVP should go by the Traditional Triple Crown stats(Home runs, RBI, Average), the Modern Triple Crown stats(AVG, OBP, SLG), Runs created, OPS and a playable fielding ability. *I know some stats are repeated thanks for your input.



OK I am done for now it just really pisses me off that I can't vote for Russell "The Phylloxera" Reitz

Friday, September 23, 2011

More Award Talk: Cy Young

I am going to start with the Cy Young's first because the pitching has really interested me this season. Since the mid-season report some things have changed a bit.

AL
In the AL Ted Timlin is still having a fantastic season. Still only one loss to go along with his 20 wins now. He still is and should be a favorite to win the award. In some of my preferred statistics like K/BB and K/9 head of the other front runners. Ramiro Cabrera is crushing the world in K/BB this season. Almost a top five season ever. I don't consider Cabrera a top five though despite leading that and one of my other favorite stats BB/9. Maybe he should be though maybe I'll dig deep later on him. Maybe.
Now to the rising contender and maybe new front runner "Big" Dick Randall. He has been a mode consistency this season. Back on 8/30 he let up 6 runs. That was his low point this season. He followed that up with two straight no runs games. When he takes the hill all Detroit has to do most of the time is score 3 or more runs to get the win. He has 6 no decisions so far this season and in all 6 of them he let up 3 or less runs. Five times he let up 2 or less. Four times 1 run or less. And once with out letting up a single run. If he had just a little bit of run support and a better bullpen he would have more wins than everybody in the world. Or maybe if he could go deeper into the game that would change a bit. He is only averaging about 6.5 inning a start. Randall is the AL leader in my favorite pitching stat that we can find OPS against(.591 vs Timlin .608). To me this is the most important stat. It is very telling in how a pitcher preforms overall. He is also the AL leader in ERA, second in WHIP, 5th in K/BB, 3rd in K/9 and 12th in BB/9.
One thing that does bother me about these to guys is the lack of innings. Randall does make the top ten but Timlin is out of the top 25 altogether. Timlin has not gone more then 7 innings all season and averages under 6 a game. In all though, these two guys are the front runners for the AL. I don't know where my vote is going to go yet but I can bet you it is going to be for Lyle Moran because why on earth would I not vote for my own guy. I think you all should vote for him too.

NL

The NL may have even a closer race with more option to choose from. At the mid-season report I had Floyd Mullen as my easy pick. I don't believe that to be a true statement anymore. Russell "The Phylloxera" Reitz has really picked up his game(really the number two pick how is Mike Lyon Looking now). Clay Henry is right on the heels of Reitz for my next choice. In the wins/loses category there is no front runner as the top tier are all about the same to me. Mullen sub 2 ERA would steal votes right off the bat but as stated a few times before ERA can be misleading. The three mention are 123 in the ERA race 1,2,4 in the WHIP race Angel Cueto coming in the third spot there. In OPS against, Mullen has a huge advantage with a .508. Reitz hold a .538 followed by Henry's .591. So right there you see that to me Reitz and Henry better make up for tht gap some how. Boy does Reitz find a way to bridge the gap with his NL record setting season. What record you ask? His K/BB rate is the highest ever in the NL. Second only to the great "Sir" William Haselman, who set the record back in season 7. Mullen falls in at ten on this seasons list. Clay is 19th. K/9 Reitz is 3rd Mullen 12th and Clay is... Not on the list. Reitz also leads BB/9 while Mullen is 13th and Clay 12th. All three are in the top ten in innings pitched. I think that after the closer look at the numbers my vote is going to go to Reitz. The is difference between he and Mullen in K/BB is just too much to go against. Looks like maybe a passing of the torch might be happening this season.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Racing!!! Where teams stand today

Historically in the AL, the Play-off picture is usually pretty set but the non-waiver deadline. This season we are seeing a few more teams pushing to get to the post season.
Baltimore is a lock for the one seed per the norm in Kaline.
For the fifth time in six season, the defending world series champions(in your face Cloud and Bernie ;-p), The Minnesota Miller are in a good position for the second seed.
As of right now, Memphis holds the three spot but St. Louis is just a game behind for the AL south crown.
The fourth spot be Scottsdale. They hold an 11 game advantage over the second team in the terrible terrible AL West. They are finally getting near .500 too, so they are playing much better baseball.
The fifth spot falls to Pawtucket and they are almost a lock for the top wild card team. If they were in the AL West or south they would be winning a better position but when you play in the Best division in the Kaline you can get stuck in second with a nice record. They hold a lead the wild card race buy 10 games but only trail Minnesota by 6 games.
Now the fight for number six. St. Louis, Seattle, and Indianapolis are all tied for the spot. Durham is only two games back Cincinnati 3 games Detroit 4 games and still even Jackson at 6 games back still has a fighting chance.
The unsub AL best guess ranking


  1. Baltimore. Really I know out a limb here. They have a 15 game lead and should be in cruise control mode now.

  2. Minnesota. With still around 50 games to go Pawtucket could make a run. Pawtucket plays Minnesota 3 more times.

  3. *Durham. Only three games back I will explain below how it plays out in my worthless math.

  4. Scottsdale. 11 game lead over really bad teams this season.

  5. Pawtucket. Ten game advantage.

  6. *St. Louis but I should pick Cincinnati again see below.

I give the 3 spot to Durham because they only have 21 games left against teams with a .500 record or better. Durham also only has seven more games against the three teams with a .600 record or better and ten games left with the teams with .400 record or under. The current leader has 28 games with teams .500 or better and 11 games with the top three teams while only playing the bottom three six times. They would have to play very good ball down the stretch to make the play-offs in my opinion. St. Louis has it rough too. They play 23 games against teams with a .500 record or better 14 games with .600 and up and only 6 with below .400.


So why even pick St. Louis to make the play-offs? I don't know. Of the games played against the top three, 16, they have won a whopping 3. So again why pick them? I guess I do truly believe that they are the best team of the wild card group. Even if all the numbers tell me differently. Cincinnati only has 19 games left with teams .500 or better, 6 games with the top three and 14 verses the bottom three. They only trail the 6 spot by three game. According to the math that got Durham in it should also get them in but well its my blog entry so eat it.


Last thing to consider. Detroit has a span of 20 games against teams below .500. They end the season with ten straight games with Baltimore Pawtucket and Minnesota. My thinking might be that those three team will be in play-off mode and key players might be resting for the real games. Maybe Detroit just maybe!


The NL is always hard to figure out. They are so much more balanced then the AL and always have tons of different racing to watch. This season is no different. Even the one seed is a race this season.


Houston holds it now but Fargo is three games back and Sacramento is Four.


That means by my quick Minnesota math that Fargo is only a game up on second first round bye spot. Those are so important and this race is so tight it is anyones call. As it stands today Sacramento has a 4 game lead for the NL West and the 3 spot.


Boston has around .500 since the All-star break. Richmond has though about making a run right after the break with a mini 5 game win streak but then decided that maybe they didn't want the NL East now losers of 12 of the last 16. Way to step-up. Philadelphia is lurking around at six games back and with neither team taking the division and running with it they might sneak in and steal it. The NL West has the two teams holding the wild card spots.


Salem in the five hole and Vancouver in the six. Five games between these two team might still make a race yet. Fighting for the last spot is very large group and I would start looking up your tie breakers now. At this point in the season I make the cut off six games. Charlotte, Charleston, Wichita all just two back. New York and Richmond four back. Montreal five and Buffalo at six.


My unfair unsub picks.(I didn't do a schedule peak for the NL... too many races to look in on)



  1. Houston. Just add Bullpen arms and ready to gain some distance for the one spot.

  2. Sacramento. They just are a slightly better team then Fargo.

  3. Fargo. just missing the two spot

  4. Philly. I will go with the team with the best players. Six back might be too much to pass two teams but I see them making a run.

  5. Salem. Good hitting club that has pitching fairly well.

  6. Vancouver. They just pitch really well and their defense it tops in the NL.

Good luck I will update in a little while.

Monday, September 12, 2011

AL MVP

Paul Melville. It really could be any of Baltimore's top 3 hitters. The Triple Bs have three guys with OPSs over 1.000. Those same three are also on the plus side of 30 homeruns. When voting comes around I am sure that some these players will not make the final top five because of WiS strange section process. I know that WiS loves to get players like Enir DeJesus in to voting they love the stolen bases. He is also fielding really well and I sort of wish I didn't trade him away.

AL ROY

David Bolivar. It was a very close call between him and ajpop's Andrea Delany. At season's end the voters may disagree with me and I am okay with it. I choose Bolivar for a few reasons. First even though I do not like the way All-Stars are picked Bolivar was one this season. Second defense should play a roll and Bolivar is a sure shot mid-season Gold Glove 3rd basemen and I would say Silver Slugger 3rd basemen. The last thing I will say is the home park factors. Delany plays his home games in a hitters park and Bolivar plays his games in an extreme pitchers park. Bolivar should also be in the running for MVP.

AL Cy Young

Temlind Timlin. After gushing in the last post about how great of a season Baltimore pitchers have been this season could it have came from another team. There are other very strong candidates but Timlin is hands down the top pitcher in the AL this season. Leads the league in OPS against, WHIP, OBP, OAV, WinsK/9. Top five in ERA, SLG, Ks, K/B, B/9. You can not argue with this selection. If you think "Big" Dick Randall is having a better season a want to vote for him that's your call. To me it looks like Timlin is ahead in the more important stats.

Friday, September 9, 2011

The Mid-Season Report

We are just passed the half point and somethings are gaining clarity. First The AL West is terrible. Every other team in the AL outside of the division would be leading it. The AL has nine teams under .500 and the West has four of them. On the flip side the AL only has 6 teams over .500. Of course three teams are with-in on game of that mark. The NL has only 7 teams below .500 leaving 8 teams with a winning record. The NL east is like a rich mans AL West since all their teams are under .500.
Despite the DH, the AL has 4 of the top five pitching ERAs in the world. Only Houston makes the list at number 4. Baltimore's pitchers have been so good that are their team ERA is currently 2.97. That would put them are the greatest pitching staff kaline has every had and the best by a fairly solid mark.
The top five are:






  1. Houston 3.08 season 18



  2. Sacramento 3.12 Season 16



  3. Wichita 3.17 season 7



  4. Philadelphia 3.20 season 16



  5. Houston 3.26 Season 19



All of those teams are nice a cozy in the punchless and no DH NL. The Top five AL only season are:







  1. 3.31 S9



  2. 3.34 S19



  3. 3.44 S20



  4. 3.51 S11



  5. 3.54 S 10 And S7



All of those season belong to Baltimore... It must be nice not to have to pitch to that line up. I will say that of the 19 teams that have finished under 4.00 in the AL 11 of them belong to Baltimore. Only 8 other teams in the AL have finished the season below 4.00 not from Baltimore. Season 21 may just be Cloudg13 crown jewel season if he can keep playing at this pace. Baltimore will be sending three starting pitchers to the All Star game for sure.




Minnesota has played in 10 extra inning games and seem to find a way of pulling out the victory 80% of the time. Their Pitching has been outstanding even though Bryce McMillon has not been at his best this season. The Bullpen here has been outstanding posting a 3.50 ERA. Baltimore's is better though at about 3.18.




Strictly by team OPS and team ERA Houston is by far the best in the NL. Floyd Mullen is having one of his best seasons ever by the way. The Man does not get old he just keeps going strong. Overall the NL team ERAs are way up from seasons past though and it doesn't seem that the offense has gone up as much. Over the last five seasons the team OPS averaged out to be about .739 and this season it is up to .745. That last five seasons team ERA Average is 4.18. This season it is 4.32. For about 5.5 points of OPS if doesn't seem to match the jump in ERA. I would have to dig deeper then I feel like doing to get to the bottom of this.




Mid-Season Award Winners according to me. NOT the WifS goes about picking winners and top five.




AL MVP




Paul Melville . He is just crushing the ball. This Award could maybe go to a pitcher from Baltimore.




AL ROY




David Bolivar. It was very close and Andre Delaney may pass him before the seasons over but Bolivars Defense is great right now.




AL Cy Young




Ted Timlin. You can not argue about the results he is putting up. The K/9, bb/k OPS against wins loss how every you do your evaluation he has to be on top. I can almost feel that he will be a Free agent this off season maybe you can pull out your check books for this two time CY winner... Maybe three time at seasons end. He will be getting paid for sure.




NL MVP




Jordan Wiess. He is just smashing the ball and not making many mistakes on defense.




NL ROY




Gerald Zhang. I don't know how he is putting up those numbers but he is.




NL Cy Young




Floyd "The Hit Man" Mullen. He is just flat out the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be. Maybe he has a brother names Owen.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Early Season Trends and Production







  • Well Baltimore is a Force. If you didn't know that you are blind. Their record is insane at 38-6. Fun Fact Gus West has half of the teams losses. Their payroll next season could be a team record after the arbitration case. My interest is peaked on the choice that Cloudg13 will make for the future of the team. his AAA team is stacked and could play above .500 in the ML. I am getting goo-goo gaa gaa over this squad time to move on.

  • Helena is a joke. Also an insane record but in reverse at 5-39. I thought that they might bring up some younger talent but at this point why waste the service time. Good news though they have a 10 game lead for the top pick in the draft next season.

  • The Mighty Millers are getting on a roll. The on;y team not to lose a series to The Triple Bs. Huge trade right after the season started to add a huge bat but at the cost of a great arm and solid bat. Risky because of the contract year for Victor Pulido and I may be having a little buyers remorse for it.

  • What-a-be-Minneapolis hold the third best record in all the land. From my write up I should have seen that but the record I gave them was not on point. Fielding has be terrible but the pitching might improve yet. Hitting has been the bread and butter over the years and we are seeing that again this season.

  • Philly and the crazy payroll of 135 million = a .400 winning percent. Their real problem is that they can't beat Sacramento. So far this season they are 0-7. They are not doing so hot when the other nine on the diamond if from Fargo either going 2-4 so far. Things will balance out a little.

  • The AL West looks to have a below .500 winner so good for them. Funny thing though. Helena, despite that record, is closer to first place then Kansas City and Cinncy. Those Last two teams can go ahead and bust out the season 22 blueprint. Three teams from the East is not going to happen. Montreal seem as the only NL team in need of a quick turn around.

  • Early season newly sign free agents production: Davey Fick is just about right where his career line stands. Just a shade below. Bryce McMillon is having a slow start in Minnesota, but Cesar Gabriel in just about at his career line. Jake Jennings is just a pile of steaming shit so far. His OPS is .669. He has zero plus plays and 4 minus plays. New York added Del Vallarta and he is pitching above his career line. On the other hand they also forked over about 90 million to J.R Cunnane. His .656 OPS is not what he is paid to do.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

NL Prediction season 21

NL North





The NL North is very difficult place to pick a winner. They seem to take turns winning the division here.


New York has a really nice line up and top end starting pitching.


Fargo also has a really good one two at the top of their rotation but that lack the line-up depth to be a sure shot winner. They do have a good group of both side of the ball pretty well though.


Buffalo has the best starting pitcher in the world and follow him up is a really solid rotation. Maybe the second best in the NL even... Maybe. Defense is a killer and could hurt their pitching a bit. From what I can see they are playing with-out a usable everyday short-stop.


Montreal has a very consistent team with no huge holes but lacking high end star power.



NL North Standings



Buffalo with 88-93 wins



Fargo with 88-93 wins



New York 86-91 wins



Montreal 79-84 wins






NL East



In the History of Kaline Philadelphia has reigned over the East winning 15 times. They have top end starting pitching a that is getting older and older. They still have some big sticks in the line-up but age is taking a toll on them too.



Boston is almost ready to push the gas and make a run at the champ but they might be a season away from that still. They have some really good hitters and some nice looking guys in the minor league that will be really good starters.



Washington D.C. on the surface looks to take a big ratings drop until you scan their AAA team . They have a few guys there that should be making the ML debut sometime this season. The have an ace to front their rotation and also hold a respectable 2-3 starter as well. They have a good enough line-up to score some runs. Defense is also respectable and will hold its own.



Richmond has some very large defensive issues. No true SS, CF lacks range, 2nd basemen can't turn the double play if he manages t even get to the ball, Corner OF lacks arm and Range(close on Range though). But they hit here. They should score some runs this season for sure. Starting pitching should give them a chance to win some games too.



NL East Standing



Boston 83-88 wins



Philadephia 81-86 wins



Washington D.C. 71-76 wins



Richmond 67-72 wins






NL South



Houston has represented the NL in 3 of the last 4 world series winning one. You could argue that the best rotation is playing here in Houston. The window is still open but ML service time is catching up and contracts are getting rather large. They have a line-up that will score runs in bunches. A bullpen that can shut teams down late. Defense is in the bottom third in the world.

Wichita is a starving team with some amazing contracts on the books. Some of the worst I have seen. Poor ownership over the last few season have made this team a long term rebuild. Tons of money can come off the books after this season but there is also a arbitration nightmare to deal with. this is another team that as too look for the future and the current owner has an great track record so lets hope he sticks around and see it though. All in all this is a team that is looking at next season draft already. Two picks in this years draft could help speed things up.

Charleston has some things that I like. and well not starting pitching. The bullpen should hold teams off in the late innings. Fielding should be in the top third of the world. On offense they hold the next 110 million dollar man as well as a great line-up 1-8. Maybe the fielding will help the pitching out enough to put them over the top Sly Stallone style.

Charlotte seems to me to be in a bit of a reload mode not rebuild. They have some prospects that might need more seasoning in the minors before they make an impact on the ML squad. Up and down their current 25 man this seems to me to be about as average of team in Kaline. Budget is in good shape too.

NL South Standings

Houston 100-105 wins

Charleston 89-94 wins

Charlotte 79-84 wins

Wichita 58-63 wins


NL West

The NL West seems to come down to the last series of the season every season.

Sacramento went on a little spending spree this off season picking up one of the best position players in the league. They are very strong defensively in the key positions. Every time the team plays the send out a pitcher that can get the win. A good to great rotation. Add in the bullpen and you have a ton of wins. Their bullpen is top five or better. The team is set up well 1-8 in the line up and should be in the five offensively as well.

Vancouver has a history of .500 teams. I think this years team maybe be a little better than that. Solid pen to keep games close late. Good enough hitters to score a few runs. Great defense behind middle of the road starting pitching.

Salem could use an upgrade at starting pitching. The bullpen should be average Defense is pretty much middle third. They will hit and hit and hit. Solid eyes up and down the line up with good splits and power.

Las Vegas is old and on the decline with the whispers of rebuild. The team might win a few games this season but I don't see them as a factor this season. They really don't do any one thing that well.

NL West Standings

Sacramento 98-103 Wins

Salem 83-88 wins

Vancouver 81-86 wins

Las Vegas 55-60 wins

Friday, August 5, 2011

Season 21 Predictions

AL North




The Minnesota Millers should be able to repeat as AL north champions this season. They added ace Bryce McMillon to an already strong Rotation. They did lose power hitting CF JR Cunnane in free agency leaving a hole there. The Millers still have one of the best line-ups in the AL and should be able to hit. Their bullpen may have over-achieved last season but in all they should be able to hold most leads late. Always a strong fielding team they added Cesar Gabriel to fill in defensive gaps. The team is a year older but still has plenty of wins in them.

98-102 wins

The Pawtucket Juggernauts will be in the running for another wild card spot this season. The have a solid rotation that gives them a chance to be in just about every time they play. If they have a lead their back end of the bullpen is about as good as anyone with Geraldo Belliard and Vic Brogna. They have a good enough line up to get leads and play from behind. There is a little less power then we are use to seeing from Pawtucket but they will still hit plenty. We should see another strong defensive team again this season.

84-89 wins




The Detroit Miracles will also be hunting for a wild card spot this season. Dispite losing an ace they still hold one in Big Dick Randall and have a very nice 2(Ruben Tejada) and 3(Luis Escobar). The bullpen is also in pretty good shape and won't blow it too many times. The team is going to need to find some hitting with Keith Haad missing most of this season with a ACL tear. On defense they have a few holes to patch up as well.

82-87 wins

Seattle Grunge still may need one more season to be a true wildcard contended this season. They do have the talent though that could surpass my expectation depending on how well the coaches improve the players. Lacking a true power hitter may cause some issues but they have enough talent to hit for AVG and a great eye for a High OBP. They will score some runs and they will see plenty of pitches to get the the bull pen quicker. They are missing high end starting pitching and bullpen. They have some solid guys on staff but nothing top end. Some AAA players could help out this season if they can make the jumps that are need to make the show. This team is stacked with defense and should be right up there with the league leaders and that should help the pitchers play better and in turn really make a wild card run.

79-84 wins


The AL East



Baltimore What can I say they hit they pitch and they win games in the masses. Every knows when they are coming up on the schedule and either plans on resting players or setting up the best you have to match up with them. As far as hitting goes there is Baltimore than there is everyone else. Every time you play them an ace takes the mound. Every time they have a lead a shut down closer take the mound. They do lack a little in the fielding but with the bats they carry it is more than made up for. If you don't think this is the team to beat you need to get checked into a clinic or something. I know cloud misses his trophy and it has been six season since he has been with out it for two consecutive season. Oh and the AAA team is stacked in case your thinking the pipeline is drying out.

114-119


Indianapolis Devils have the hitting and pitching combination to make a play-off run this season. They also have plenty of talent in AAA to fill in holes as needed and they may be needed with the complete lack of any sort of defense.

80-85 wins


Kansas City Dingbats are missing pitching in the starting rotation. They have young arms that should develop into top of the rotation starters. At the end of the game they have the best relief pitcher in the world in Hipolito Iglesias. They should hit in the middle of the pack and they are a fine defensive team. they could be in the wild card hunt once again.

80-85 wins




Cincinnati Red Legs are still in a rebuild. They have a complete lack of hitting abilities against right handed pitching and that makes for a really really bad offense. With one of the better bullpens in the world the lead they have they should hold well. With a minor system stocked up with talent players I will be keeping my eye on this team in the season that fallow but right now they may be looking ahead and spending on the minors then the ML squad this season.


55-60 wins




The AL South



St. Louis Black Dynamites have one the the best up and coming teams in the world. A superpower in the making. They did find some poor luck in losing Alfredo Espinosa for about three more months. Still with out him they showcase two of the better pure power hitters in the world in Harley Nunnally and Miguel Feliz. The line-up is solid up and down and the defense + plays all day. Add in a starting rotation that features some of the games best young starting pitching and you have a real shot at the two spot in the AL and earn the first round bye. The injury may cost them that but they still have so much talent that they should over come it.

98-102


Durham Spitoons have a really solid group of starting pitchers and a very nice end of the bullpen with the arms in Endy Simpson, Cristian Black and the young Jair Mijares. Range on defense seems to be a the lower side but the gloves and arms are there to help pick up that weakness. There is a lack of power for the stadium they play in and I believe that might push them towards the back of the pack a little. In all this team could make the play-offs.

86-91


Memphis Packers are in the decline after some really good season. Age has caught up to them and they are about to head to rebuild mode I think. the Defense is really solid with amazing range. They did bring in Chris Ray this off season and it will be fun to see if he can catch up to Alex "Doesn't Know when to quit" Silva as the greatest hitter ever. There is some pitching that could become trade bate. To me it looks like a bit of a below average team in the hitting, pitching and pen

64-69


Jackson Rollin Rebels lacks high end talent. They fill the roster well enough but there is just not a wow player there right now. They have a team that will win a few games and maybe place third in the South. They will play outstanding defense and they have some OK starting pitchers upfront but nothing too special. The bullpen is looking really shaky and maybe a little scary when in a close game with the lead.

57-62 wins


AL West

Scottsdale Slam is the class of the west right now. The some of the starters have trouble getting the ball across the plate but for the most part they are an upper tier rotation. They even brought in Aaron McCorley so I will try to keep an eye out for win number 200. The line-up will fill out a nice one-nine with nice power and a solid OBP. I don't see much in the pen but relief pitching can be found during the season.

87-92 wins


Helena Troy currently only has about 16-17 players on their 25 man so it is a little hard to tell that they look like as a team right now. From what I can tell they have some nice young players getting ready to make their first pro game. There is not enough young players yet to impact too many wins.


65-70


Honolulu Hoplites are in year three of there second rebuild. 2.0 if you will. They don't pitch very well, hit real well or catch the ball real well. Another long season here and next season maybe another top five pick to help with the re-load.


Colorado Springs Cougars are a team with three of the best hitters Kaline has seen(Benji Mota, Chris Montague, and Ron Matherson). Five Or six seasons ago this would be one mean team but that it is a group in their mid 30s on the decline. Not much pitching either starting or Pen. Defense is scary bad. Looking for a number one pick maybe.

54-59 wins

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Season 21 Free Agent Report

The Best








Bryce McMillon (29)will be the gem free agent this shopping season. His former team did not budget to keep him so he will find a new home. Think tie breakers in this one. He will easily get a max deal.


Davey Fick (28)is a former MVP, seven time All Star 6 time Silver Slugger and also has a Gold Glove to his resume. At 28 he is ready to cash in on a mega deal in the max range.

Jake Jennings (25)is a free agent due to a new owners mistake. It is very rare to find a player of this talent and this age in free agency. He also might find himself in the 110 million range if teams want to over pay because they missed the top two.




The Rest



Those are the top tier free Agents following them is a very very good group of second tier position.


Ceasar Gabriel (30)should make a nice payday finding a spot on teams that missed out on Fick. His range does not play at shortstop but he has more that enough arm to hold down third and the glove to play second. His outstanding make-up rating means that he might still hold value at the end of a 5 year deal.



Tony Benjamin (30) Is a two time all star. A Gold Glove winner at 2nd. He is like a not quite as rich mans Gabriel but not quite a poor mans version either. He holds his own just fine but an injury at the end of the season caused him to miss the play-offs and world series. His make is not as high so I would avoid paying him too much towards the end of longer deals. Maybe front load the deal with a bonus and de-escalate it at the end.


J.R. Cunnane (31) is the only power hitter worth a damm on the open market. He is a two time all star. He hits for power and he also fields a solid CF. At 31 with a lower make-up rating I would follow the Benjamin contract plan.


Ramiro Lira (31) Has posted almost a career OPS of .900. He is a pure hitter with out much to offer in the field outside 1st base. His Make-up rating is higher than the last two but I don't see him make that much money to matter that much. I will be wrong but we will see.


Luis Mairena (31) Has won GG in CF in both leagues. He does have some pop in his bat but I would expect a sharp decline in his ratings soon. He has a terrible make-up rating and should see a fast fall. He doesn't hit well enough for a corner outfielder down the line he may be a serviceable 2nd base place holder but in this game 2nd basemen are a dime a dozen and can be found in two-way threats like just about every other player above. If you could get him on a 2 year place holder deal I could see it but I wouldn't give up a first round pick for him.




The Scrap Heap





The scrap heap and players that can be picked up during spring training on the cheap. Jim Hall (34) can still swing the bat and run some bases. He has a glove but no range left. Also he is a type A FA so happy trials Jim Hall. Archie Hubbell (30) can play every day as a super utility player. He could even fill in as a SS if needed. Benji Mota (34)is on his way to the hall but could still fill up a line-up card as a DH. He still hits and hits well and won't cost a draft pick... interesting. Jake "The Snake" Roberts (34)hits according to his ratings but not to his stats. Someone will find a use for Cesar Fernandez (26). Yes there are other out there but these are the ones I see as worth a longer look.



Did you say you wanted to add pitching?



Well there is McMillon right. Yeah then the Big drop







Rafael Guillen (35) is about to hit all out free fall in the ratings. You might be able to get two more productive starting season out of him but then its off to the pen.







Del Vallarta (30) Has had a nice career so far and has a nice make-up rating to hold for the length of a deal. This guy is an innings eater going over 200+ innings for the last 8 season and 192 9 season ago.



Chick King (30) Maybe you think that you will be the owner that he finally wins with... good luck with that.



Clyde "The Glide" Franco (35) has had nice career but maybe finally ready to head to the pen full time after this season.



There are a bunch of back of the rotation starters this season fill up on your stop gaps



The Pen







I have made a few bullpen mistakes in my day and have learned my lessons. That said.




Luis Montana (30) should hold games for you. His numbers don't show that but well he should.

Paul "OverPaid Ninja" Nakamura (35) Can you believe this guy was making 20 million a season the last few years. He has pitcher well and his ratings are holding well so he might be the next fireman of the year.

My former guys and players I swear by Cristian Black and Roy "Fort" Campbell could be your next great righty lefty set-up combination. If they are there during spring training I might make a move for them.

There is plenty of overpriced bullpen players here good luck with them.




The Spenders







What teams have in the war chest.




Baltimore 1,134,800

Boston 20,494,900*

Buffalo 12,728,984

Charleston 16,536,402

Charlotte 13,501,500

Cincinnati 33,520,550

Colorado Springs 15,454,134

Detroit 14,509,300

Durham 17,375,450

Fargo 27,529,200

Helena 26,475,300 *

Honolulu 15,262,900

Houston 1,919,050

Indianapolis 3,019,384

Jackson 22,706,550*

Kansas City 15,918,750

Las Vegas 39,510,300

Memphis 25,964,850

Minnesota 50,200,000

Montreal 14,525,000


New York 57,311,150


Pawtucket 25,885,467*


Philadelphia 36,426,750


Richmond 26,880,050*


Sacramento 40,359,000


Salem 32,418,300


Scottsdale 16,997,418


Seattle 49,808,750


St. Louis 27,379,150


Vancouver Not Much at all under 600k


Washington D.C. 2,331,050


Wichita 5,020,450


* have yet to finish arbitration cases



Bold- Max deal potential



I didn't look at what every team has for holes or if they have AAA call-ups coming yet so something might be off on their max deal abilities.