Monday, March 11, 2013

AL Preview

AL North

  • Hitting: The line-up is strong though the heart of the order and one through nine are all tough outs. With guys like Piper James, David Bolivar, Alan Landrum, and Jake Jennings they should score plenty of runs. Last season, even though they played in an extreme hitters park, they were a top five hitting team.
  • Pitching: Last season they were the second best pitching team in the AL. The starters this season will be very strong again with a rotation of Dave Allen, Jarrod Walker, Bud Cassidy, Candy McCarthy and Fernando Ramirez. Walker is now 100% healthy after last seasons shoulder surgery and should only help the team keep runs off the board. The bullpen is also in great shape and they added Pedro Rodriguez if a spot starter is needed. Also working from the pen are Fergie Hemingway, and closer Sam Woodson.
  • Fielding: The fielding percentage was the second best last season and the +/- was huge making them one of the top fielding teams overall.
Wins 96-101


  • Hitting: A truly horrble hitting team last season. One of the truly worst offensive teams in the world. This season has been a complete rebuild of the offense. Rickey Spencer, Cleatus Burns. Julian Espada, and Jaso Day all have been added in order to help score a few more runs. Cookie Gandarillas is also hitting in the middle of the order.
  • Pitching: As brutal as the hitting was the pitching was just the opposite. Last season was historic for the team. The first time in world history that a team finished the season with an ERA below 3. They did that while Big Bad Bryce McMillon missed a large chunk of the season. The rotation now is set with Lyle Moran, Vladimir Olivares, Dario Lee, Big Bad, and Hank Xavier as the anchor. The bullpen is also in good enough shape because last season the starters ran very deep into the games with 35 complete games.
  • Fielding: +/- was the best the world has ever seen and % was the best. The Millers will take a small step back in order to add offense but is should still be a top three team.
Wins 88-92




Wins 65-70

Detroit Miracles

  • Hitting: Last season they were one of the bottom five hitting teams and they may be around there again this season.
  • Pitching: Also towards the bottom in pitching. The bullpen is about average though.
  • Fielding: Solid fielding team above average.



AL East


  • Hitting: The best line-up in the world.
  • Pitching: They were top three last season. Slipping just a bit to Minnesota and Seattle. Still that have an ace on the mound every start. The rotation of Andy Markakis, Armando Ramirez, Timothy Cather, Ron Garcia and Brutus Robinson should be scary enough for any team heading into a series with them.
  • Fielding: They had a great +/- plays and a respectable % to go with it last season. The field abilities plus the hitting on top of it, is a bit impressive.
Wins 110-114

Cincinnati Red Legs

Wins 95-99

Indianapolis Devils

  • Hitting: The offense was pretty bad last season but they have a couple of guys in AAA that might jolt the offense a bit.
  • Pitching: The pitching was a touch below average last season. They added young Anibal Rodriguez in FA and Mikey Day will get some ML action.
  • Fielding: They are above average on defense.
Wins 76-80

New York Knights

  • Hitting: Losing Jerry Leonard has to sting a bit. Though "Little" Boots Hutchinson did hit 40 homers last season the void created will be very hard to overcome.
  • Pitching: The bread and butter of this team is on the mound. Roger Glynn, Kennie Charles, Ivan Baerga, Miguel Escobar, and Allen Benson all give them a solid chance of winning games. Ramon Martin brings up the rear as the teams closer.
  • Fielding: Any time I see an upside down +/- I think that the owner has given up on defense. -31 is a pretty big number and they don't have the offense to justify that big of a number like Tucson does.
 Wins 72-76


AL South


  • Hitting: This team has one of the top line-ups in the world. Last season they had the top OBP% in a land slide ahead of The Triple Bs by 11 points. They also struck out the least of any other team in the AL by a wide margin. The owner also has an impressive resume and knows how to win. Ewd330 has 103 seasons played and 101 post-seasons appearances. Oh and just 21 World Series Titles. back to the line-up and enough of the rabbit trail. Alfredo Espinosa and Jose "The Aztec Killer" Cortez are the heart and sole of the offense.
  • Pitching: The current "best in the AL" goes to Amp "The Devil" Bevil(even his contract ends in 666 twice). The rest of the rotation is filled out with Del Figureoa, Norberto Rodriguez, Pedro Lopez, and either Frank Lange or Jimmy Durbin. The Bullpen is of high quality.
  • Fielding: A good % but bad +/-. This part of the game could improve.
Wins 106-110


  • Hitting: Hong-Gu Jang had a nice season last year but age is catching up quick. Other then that, offense is a bit down here in Jackson.
  • Pitching: They had great pitching from Harry Lowe and Sam Logan last season. Also, Mike Lyon put up solid numbers. Louie Mijares might also be a starting option.
  • Fielding: Great +/- last season and almost as good as Minnesota's team.
Wins 90-95


  • Hitting: The line up is young and might be a touch thin. The middle of the order is set though. Vic Moreno and Asdrubal Petit can absolutely crush the ball.
  • Pitching: Alex Castilla always has me rethinking about the VR stat because he always has good numbers. Gorkys Bonilla also will start some games.
  • Fielding: Last season they were even in +/-.
Wins 88-92


  • Hitting: Amos Henley had a monster season last year. J.B. Justice and Cristobal Mercado can fill out the middle of the order well. Overall a solid line-up up and down.
  • Pitching: They have a pretty solid rotation with Gus West and Erubiel Colome. The bullpen is a bit of a mess though.
  • Fielding: One of the top fielding teams in the AL.
Wins 82-86

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Re-Post and a New FA Black Belt Course

The first screen you need to have up is the trade screen. On that screen you can see teams current budget including current negations like it says at the bottom by the *. So, you can quick glance at the season 31 payroll and see what teams have offered out to FA. Now, when you find a team with money offered in season 31 you can click on the teams link and see their actual payroll, with out FA bids, on the franchises link. Now if you see there is a difference between two you know they have offers out. To pin point the offer you can roll the icon over World Offices down to Finances to Franchise payroll Analysis. Find the team you were peaking at from the trade screen and choose them. On that screen you choose all to include unassigned players and you can see season by season payroll. Do some quick math and you can find out how much the team is bidding on FA players. One thing you can not see though is promised bonuses.

So, you can find either Indianapolis Devils, New York Knights, Washington D.C. Black Bears, or Philadelphia Phillies on your trade proposals screen and see that all four teams have 20 million or more issues out for season 31. Go to the Payroll analysis screen and choose any of the teams and see what the real payroll is for season 31.

On that screen you can see Philly only has 6 million issued to Gill Cho. So they have 20 million on FA bids.
New York Knights have Miguel Escobar signed in season 31 so they have 20 million in FA Bids.
Indy has zero contracts for season 31 so they have 20 million in offers out as well.
D.C. has Dexter Beirne under contract in season 31 and the trade screen shows them with a budget of 27 million, so, again, they also have 20 million in FA contracts offered.

It gets a bit more difficult when max contracts are not being offered. It does take a bit of guess work on the FA the team is after but most of the time you can make a pretty good guess. Later in FA it gets much easier.

Monday, March 4, 2013

Jerry Leonard Watch




03-04-13 9:30 AM CST
Jerry Leonard is the biggest free agent and will get a max deal for sure.
As of Monday morning, the teams with max bids are Indianapolis Devils, New York Knights, Philadelphia Phillies, and Washington D.C. Black Bears.

Who is number one? Who has the tie breaker?
The Devils tie breaker number is 86
New York Knights tie breaker is 170
Philly Phillies Number is 94
Washington D.C. Black Bears is 0.

So, as of right now I have the Knights with the little number one next to Mr. Leonard's name.

New York is just short for a max deal. That leaves Philly in front for now.

03-04-13
Updated 1:55 PM CST
As of right now Washington D.C.Does not have the space to offer a max bonus. I have it down to two teams. Philly and Indy. Both teams need a Fielding Instructor and both teams have cash to get one. Indy though needs to pick up an eight point difference though. Things would have to work out perfectly for Leonard to land there.