Friday, April 13, 2012

AL Preview

Don't expect much here.  It's 930am, and I'm trying to knock this out before lunch.  If I just mention your team, you should be happy.

The Contenders:
Milwaukee, Montreal, Scottsdale, Florida, and Houston.  Last year Milwaukee was the odd man out in the Division Championships, having been knocked out in the first round.  Chicago snuck into the playoffs by winning their division, but they're not quite in the same league as these five right now. 

Montreal is spending more money this season than the franchise has spent on players since way back in S3.  Almost no money in prospect for the second year in a row, mira is finally happy with his young players and is going to let other teams get some IFA's.  No big time FA signings this season, but when you have 9 players in the majors with an overall of 80+, and a stud pitcher in waiting down in AA, there's no need to spend excess money on old guys.  Only three guys on the entire ML roster are 30 or older.  Nine guys are 25 or younger.  Glad I'm in the NL.  After 97 wins, 107, 100, and then 99 last season, which was preceded by 93 losses, 96, 109, 99, and 100, Scottsdale is starting to run into the arbitration and FA cycles that come along with high draft picks and expensive IFA's.  The 12 best guys on the ML roster, only one is making the league minimum, while six are on long-term contracts, and the other five are in various stages of arbitration.  Almost $80M in salary this year, it's only going to go up from here.  Milwaukee has been pretty consistently between $80-100M in salary over the last 9 seasons, so they are no stranger to big budgets.  Billy Black was their big signing this winter, and he's already 3-0 with a sub 2.00 ERA.  The big spenders in this group are Florida ($128M) and Houston ($109M), but it's the third year in a row at $100M+ for each of them, so no biggie.  Florida brought in Jon Porter, with maybe the cheapest deal ever for a Type A free agent, while Houston made no big signings.  It's really going to be a dog fight amongst these five teams.  I think Florida might be the odd man out this year, who will get bounced.  Houston and Montreal have gotten off to slow starts, but it's hard to pick against either of them, while Scottsdale and Milwaukee are cruising already.  Assuming they don't have to play each other early in the playoffs, I think it'll be Milwaukee and Montreal in the ALCS.

The Pretenders:
Chicago, Minnesota, Vancouver, Fargo, Salt Lake City, and Columbus.  Assuming they win their division, Chicago is the "best" among this group, since they'll make the playoffs.  But getting knocked out in the opening round by someone like Florida or Houston, that's what is keeping them in this section.  One Type B signing this winter, with no trades.....if you're not moving forward, you're moving backwards.  The other five squads are all playing just a hair over .500 ball so far, which is about right.  Minnesota signed a Type B, Columbus picked up two of those, and Salt Lake City made the biggest signing of this group by picking up a 38yo Type A.  Fargo, Minnesota and Chicago win the awards for biggest waste of salary money while playing .500 ball.  Vancouver and SLC win the early award for doing the most with the least, as they combine for $60M in salary, and are a combined 26-22 so far.  mira, your secret on building a franchise is out.  Columbus and jmarkey already win the award for Most Improved.  Instead of slashing salary and playing .300 ball this season, he's throwing money at the problem and is above .500 already.  devon let them get older and older and older, and then bailed when they hit 100 losses.  Well done already, jmarkey.

They Are Dead To Me:
Memphis, Philly, Louisville, Richmond, Honolulu.  Memphis really shouldn't be in this list, but I'm not going to go back and delete everything I've already typed.  And having a 5-6-5 split among these three groups is much clearner than 5-7-4.  Being 16-8 already, the Memphis season is promising.  But history is against them, as they have been sub .500 since S12.  No huge FA signings, but a shit ton of trades.  I'm not going to break down each trade, but the majority end with the Elvi getting ML players, which can only be a good thing when you figure the last two seasons were 94 and 93 losses.  I'm cautiously optimistic that sergei is going to make me eat my words by putting them in this group, and he's going to have his boys fighting for a wild card slot.  Maybe.  Philly is right at .500 so far, but with 111 losses last year, and 95 and 92 the two seasons before that, they will certainly regress to the mean.  A couple of Type B signings might help them keep their heads above that 100 loss mark, but that's about it.  If they can avoid a top three draft pick, it's a win for jshirley in this first season.  Maybe the award for "what are they spending their money on" goes to Honolulu, as they are sitting on $81M in salary, with $90M budgeted, and a 7-17 record so far.  A few good gloves, a couple of average hitters, but the pitching staff is going to struggle, and they're probably looking at a top 3 draft pick.  Richmond might give them a run for their money though.  Five really solid seasons in a row, followed by one disaster, and now two consistently average seasons in a row, I thought initially that they would at least be looking at another average season.  Not a ton of money put into salary (better hope you don't need to promote anyone, unless you want to dip into that $17M in prospect), and very few transactions this winter, and a Type A leaving them for greener pastures.  Not good.  And then there is Louisville.  They actually signed the Type A that left Richmond (Felipe Tavarez), and also picked up Jorel Williams from the FA pile.  You'd think that would be a huge pick-me-up for that squad.  But they're 5-19 at the time of this writing.  Defensively, they're in trouble.  Offensively, they're not horrible.  Pitching.....ugh. 

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Zoey Alexandra

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

NL North


Iowa City Corn-ish Hens



A greatly revamped defense stands out from last year's squad, but pitching seems to have taken a slight step back. some middle level FA signings, could see a slight improvement record-wise. Mmmmm cornish hens, little thai green curry rub, simply roast, pull the meat and serve with a coconut lemongrass based broth with rice noodles, veg, basil and peanuts. Damn tasty.


Defense: B-
Offense: C+
Pitching: C+
Prediction: 72-90

Cincinnati Red Thumpers



I'm not going to lie, pitching sucks in the NL. Another weak staff, another batting line-up much better against lefties. Not a lot of defense either. 54 mil payroll means the 60/40 rule is safe, but 60 wins might be the best it can do. Hmm, where is statman anyways.

Defense: C
Offense: C+
Pitching: C-
Prediction: 60-102


Helena Homies



While unable to repeat, making two straight World Series is pretty impressive. NL MVP Stuart Taylor had an astonishing 173 RBIs. Not sure they can reach those heights this season, and the pitching still looks a few arms short. not sure why Chris Clarke remains unassigned, but I ain't running the Homies, hom's.

Defense: C
Offense: B+
Pitching: B-
Prediction: 91-71

New Britain Rock Cats



Where did you go bbmogul? With what happened to sagacious, I don't like seeing owners just stop checking their teams, can't be good. But we welcome macwetherbee who steps into a mess. Next seasons top draft slot looks to be a lock if jshirley works his magic. Just a roster full of not much. At least 60/40 is safe.

Defense: C-
Offense: C
Pitching: C-
Prediction: 54-108

Ok, I did this while texting Baby Mama as she thinks her water may have broke. Hence the brevity and focus on the teams as opposed to my usual nonsensical, stream of conscious ramblings. It might be a false alarm but you never know.
NL East

St. Louis Oxbows



Another one of the few teams i saw correctly, or more accurately, the sim saw correctly. With a payroll approaching 130 million clams, hopes are high in the Gateway City. St. Lou added big time basher Alex Avila and his lifetime 1.104 OPS (which plummets to .690 in 50 career playoff games, that's my fault, he used to play on that monster team i had a few seasons back), and fading 37yr old Tex Lombardi. The team is stronger than last season in the field, and is an NL World Series contender.

Defense: B-
Offense: A
Pitching: B+
prediction 100-62

Rochester Red Wings



Again, big thanks to firesign for stepping and coming back. Not a bad team to step into either. A little tinkering but essentially the same team that won the division last year. Might be a challenge to win it again. Offense might be a little on the light side. Just sayin'.

Defense: B-
Offense: C+
Pitching: B+
Prediction: 88-74

Boston Massacre



Another team that has added a few aging vets, and we might even be seeing the swan song of former stud Geronimo Cruz. Not an earth shaking ML roster looks to be a season of "also ran" status. Will win more than it loses but definitely distinguished by no single outstanding factor.

Defense: B
Offense: B
Pitching: C
Prediction: 82-80

Baltimore Terrapins



The Road to Redemption continues. A seventh straight losing streak never materialized, as the Terrapins finished just four wins shy of my prediction. A pretty good collection of fielders behind a non saliva inducing staff. Only FA signing was Louie Vidal, who's a better hitter than Lunsford despite vastly inferior ratings (I hate this game). I see another season like the last one, but i could be wrong. As the French say, only time will tell.

Defense: A
Offense: B-
Pitching: C+
Prediction: 87-75

Monday, April 2, 2012

Half of the NL preview

Last season my predictions were so fucking wrong I almost quit HBD altogether. After this much money and thinking that the higher the ratings the better, I am now feeling totally bamboozled. Plus Admin. is sabotaging my teams. The PI I hired confirmed this form. I'm organizing a team of moderately priced lawyers and we are going to sue the flip-flops off these bastards.

The definition of insanity is repeating the same actions but expecting a different result (doesn't it make more sense the other way around?). If that's the case call me a certified nutbar wacko. And so, may I present to the assembled, the

SEASON 17 TEAM PREVIEWS
(BTW-Albuquerque+hottie google search introduced me to some tranny with that name at lot of pics of dicks in the ass of a chick with a cock, the horror, oh the horror)




Colorado Swingers


NL West

The fake man and not an actual legend, Mr. Albert "Mr. BPF" Cairo, returns for a probable last kick at the can. Joining the 38 yr old in the Snowy Hills Nursing Home For Former Stars are Flash Bass (35), Dick Iorg (34), Victor Molina (37) and Matty Tejera (33). Holy crap Aaron Spahn (36) is also on the squad. There will be oxygen on the bench and every Sunday night there's a massive bridge tournament. Thursday is shuffle board and crafting. Pitching and defense are not the strong points with this team, and even with the new old additions, offense is only slightly upgraded from last season.

Defense: C
Offense: B-
Pitching: C
Prediction: 73-89

Boise Freedom Fries



To a lesser degree, Boise has also added some older world notables in Dean Crosby, Don Boskie, Juan Mercado, and Sammy Lee. Also picked up Ken Wehner in a deal with Atlanta. Despite the age, this ain't a bad team. No glaring weakness and high level of skill competence. But I thought that last season and this team lost 16 games more than I predicted.

Defense: B
Offense: B
Pitching: B
Prediction: 89-73


Anaheim River Rats



I predicted 63 wins last season, they won 91. I don't know how. mpank might be a genius. I see a slightly better team so are they going to win 100 games. No. Two most notable acquisitions are David Canseco (FA) and Dan Watkins (trade). Throw Willie Mota in the mix as well as a couple other competent additions and I still see a team that shouldn't win 90 games. Work that mojo, mpank.

Defense: B
Offense: C+
Pitching: C
Prediction: 74-88

Albuquerque Sandias



*(Update: Mama might be starting the whole pushing a small human out)*

Here's another example of me not having a clue what the fuck I'm talking about. I predicted 95 wins, the Sandias pulled out a whopping 77. Strange to see a player still in his prime, agree to a 50% pay cut but that's what Alex Pizarro did. Starting to notice a trend in HBD, where owners team pitching staff's split ratings are getting lower. 80 control/60/60 guys seem to be more coveted if you cant have 80/80/80 guys. It's those pitchers in between that cause so much vexation. 70 is a dangerous rating number. Still good defense and very good offense, pitching has control but is a prime example of the split shift. Doesn't look menacing but we shall see. lots of top end talent overall, but some depth issues.

Defense: B
Offense: A
Pitching: C+
Prediction: 88-74


NL South

Atlanta Bullochs



Predicted 92 wins, won 76. Was y'all just fucking with me, or what? No FA signings and a couple of minor deals leaves this team much as it was. Great defense to back up decent pitching, but holes elsewhere. Line up features some pop, but not much else. Only 25 mil in payroll but the 60/40 Rule looks safe.

Defense: A+
Offense: C
Pitching: C+
Prediction: 74-88

New Orleans Posse



Looking for another season of status quo. One of the few teams where the record prediction pretty much panned out. Maybe i have an eye for mediocrity. No FA signings, no trades. Not what anyone would call a stunning group on the field. The bats have some jack.

Defense: C-
Offense: B-
Pitching: C
Prediction: 70-92


Jackson Generals



The NL South is very stand pat division, another team with no FAs and no trades (Jacksonville, same thing). Potent line-up featuring beast Emil Manuel, Terry Green, and Alex Santiago. Though glovework is sub-par, especially at SS, this is very dangerous team. Runs shouldn't be a problem and the staff should limit the amount of chances the fielders will have to deal with.

Defense: C-
Offense: A
Pitching: B+
Prediction: 94-70


Jacksonville Jimmies




Another trend becoming apparent is the v/R split on hitters is often lower than the v/Ls. This is happening in a lot of worlds. You see a lot of 70/60 guys, far more than 60/70, which seems odd since in the real world, lefty pitchers are coveted. This team's line-up is a perfect example of that. Pitching looks like it might have some control issues. Looks like a classic .500 team even with potential future Cy winner Ryan Crawford. Could this be the sixth straight losing season in Florida?

Defense: C+
Offense: C+
Pitching: C+
Prediction: 81-81

Taking a break....

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Miranda Kerr Welcomes Season 17

Miranda Kerr, Randy as I call her, while pulling her hair as I pound her tight,velvety poonany (true story), may just be the new world ooficial mascot. At least until someone hotter comes up. Anyways welcome to Season 17, former ladies and current gentlemen. So far the rules instituted a couple seasons back haven't been an issue. They've looked like they'd be issues mid-season, but teams have been able to make the 60/40 rule every time. Looks like we've lost BBmogul, but we jwelcome jshirley and jmarkey. If Lunsford and Cormier are still sucking by mid-season I will be willing to get them the hell off my team, upon which they will immediately flourish. Or I could just keep them and they can have shitty ass stats. Too bad you can't actually embarrass the fake players. Anyways here some pics of Miranda Kerr, take a good look at them and then look at your wife, and mutter quietly to your self "Fuck".




Monday, February 27, 2012

Winter is the Cruelest Season



May our daughters exercise better judgement, but thank god for other parents hot idiots.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Why Girls Volleyball Is The Best Thing in the World









A sport my daughter will never play.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Welcome firesign34

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Who Are We?

Looking at the information I have gathered, I already know this won't be as exciting as I wanted it to be.  25 of our 32 owners responded with their info, which I then combined with their win %, world series championships, and my own personal "nice guy" rating.  No, you don't get to know what your Nice Guy rating was, although some of you can guess.  I broke down the world into various geographical locations: Mid-Atlantic/Northeast, Midwest, South, West, and Foreign.  I like the sound of "foreign" better than "Canadia."  What I was really hoping for was that some stereotypes would play out exactly the way you think they would.  The southerners would be really nice, but really dumb.  The west coasters would be dicks (okay, that one played out the way I wanted it to) but pretty good at the game.  The Mid-Atlantic/Northeast guys would be just all around great guys with dozens of WS championships under their belts. 

The South is our largest demo.  I had ten guys tell me that they are from various locations in the south.  ghutton and jubs might even live next door to each other.  The South is full of some pricks, and their combined win percentage is .50433, which isn't great, but it's not horrible either (as you'll see shortly).  As a group, they have just shy of 2 World Series championships each, as they have 19 total.  That's actually the best ratio in the world.  Go figure. 

The West is our next largest group, with six guys fessing up to being from that area.  Lots of Seattle assholes.  A combined winning percentage of .51392, but only 7 World Series championships between them.  And they did grade out as being the worst in the Nice Guy category. 

The next group of note is the Mid-Atlantic/Northeastern group.  I had to group them together because we only have one guy in the northeast, and I didn't want him to be too lonely, so he gets combined with the DC/MD/Philly guys.  We are actually quite dumb at this game, with a combined winning percentage of .50106, but a whopping 7 World Series championships between the four of us.  So when we do well, we do really well.  And when we suck, we really suck.  Which gives us that amazing .500 record.  We're not quite the nicest guys, but we're far from being the west coast.

Behind that group is the Midwest.  That did kind of work out the way I wanted it to.  They're all really nice.  On a scale of 1 to 5 for the Nice Guy rating, they're all 1's.  But their combined winning percentage is .47999 and they have 1 World Series championship between the three of them.  But they're really nice guys.  Aw shucks. 

Then there are the two foreigners.  Assholes.  A .54347 winning percentage and 3 World Series between the two of them.  Cam, you're bringing down ruffles.  If you would move out of Canada, he would go down as the nicest and most successful HBD owner ever.