NL West

Under the guidance of rocketcy, the Albuquerque Dust Bunnies have made three playoffs of the team's measly four total appearances. By consistently winning around 85 games they've kept themselves in the mix, because in the NL West, winning around 85 games puts you in contention for the division title.And they've done it without having a super duper offence or pitching staff. This seasons see the addition of Andres Silva which gives the order a little more punch. Rest of the line-up won't scare the shit out of anyone, but isn't a turgid boil of pus with a hair in it, either. The theme of the pitching appears to a combo of good control, v/R but mediocre v/L, or mediocre control, good against v/L & R, or good control good versus v/L but mediocre against v/R. If you can follow that verbal salad. Stunningly incredible defensively which makes it an interesting team to watch. How much does D matter in HBD. rocket is banking on a lot.

At the polar opposite of franchise playoff experiences are the Oklahoma City Victory Dolls
Making 19 post season showings in 26 seasons is pretty impressive. Missing the last two isn't. Newly gone is Lance, long gone is Buck, and I remember there was another guy also rated in the 90s whose name escapes me. NJ, look that up for me will ya. In other words. It could be hard to make the playoffs, again, or, in this division it could be easy. Defensively, they are strong at short. And that's about it. Who will play CF? Who, I ask you? Me? I'd be better than any other option the Dolls have, and I'm 46 with a shitty back, lousy knees, I can't run and my hands are arthritic as all fuck. Oh, and I tore my rotator cuff many years ago, and I can't throw anymore. Still better. The offence will feature bombs and whiffs. But will score if David Felix  can somehow steal home from first, the 180 or so times he reaches the base. Pitching features great control and some huge, very capable inning eaters.

After four straight 4th place finishes, the Las Vegas Corn Dogs   vaulted into first place. Not sure that's in the cards this season. There's speed in the line-up but only one power threat in Louie Twitchell. If the starting pitching had the individual ratings of the bullpen, this would be a pretty formidable staff. Maybe buff_rob can somehow flip it around so the bullpen throws a 1000 innings, and the starters the other 400 or so. Maybe he's an evil genius. I know I am. Defence isn't lousy like OK, but isn't mega awesome like Albykerky. Good at SS and CF, middling elsewhere.

And fucking finally we throw a lasso at the Arizona Outlaws. Yeeeeee-ha! This franchise has one title in it's history despie a mere post season showings, but you have to go back a ways. But the beauty of the West is anyone has a chance to show, every season, especially lately with OK's regression. Last season though, AZ was just bad. I'm not sure this season will see much improvement. When aging and fading Jack Bergen is your best slugger, it ain't good times, and there some almost awful pitchers at the lower end of the staff, say like Herman Walker. Yeeesh. Defence is the strength in the desert. If they start adding runs saved by the defence to the team scoring, they might win 70.

OKLAHOMA  88-74
ALBUQUERQUE  85-77
VEGAS 82-80
ARIZONA  65-97

And now some wisdom:

 

AL West - Season 27

So it's about 1pm here in Spain as I type this final preview, and I thought I would give you a look into my typical day here.  Generally, I'm up and out of bed sometime between 8 and 9am, depending on what time the girlfriend has to head off to teach at school.  Since I essentially sleep through 90% of the PM2 cycle, I try to get onto my iPad quick enough to make a few pitching changes before the AM cycle kicks in at around 10am local time.  Meanwhile, I'm making myself some coffee, maybe some eggs and toast, something easy.  I plop down on the couch, finish my PM2 changes, check out twitter to see what happened while I was sleeping, play some Clash of Clans, then jump back to HBD when the AM cycle starts to turn over.  Depending on the day of the week, I might go for a run around 11 or noon, or just do some dishes and laundry and general cleaning.  When the gf gets home from teaching at around 2pm, I'll make us some lunch, and again depending on the day of the week, we might head off to the gym around 3 or 4pm to workout.  A quick shower, maybe an early dinner if we're hungry, and then I teach English from 7-9pm on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  Yup, six hours a week.  I also spend an hour or two doing planning on Monday morning for my week's classes.  So let's call it eight hours a week.  Phew.  It's rough.  But being a house husband is a hard job.  I do so much cooking, I feel like Cam over here.  Basically the same thing.  I'll go to bed around 11 or midnight, depending on what's going on.  If my Hokies have a night game, I might get up at 2am local time to catch what is an 8pm EST game.  A few beers, another Hokie loss, and it's back to bed. Anyway, back to the preview.

Vancouver: 105 wins and an early exit from the playoffs.  That's gotta be frustrating.  Especially considering how much payroll is involved with this team.  And this season, almost $20M in unused salary right now, which will basically go to waste if a trade isn't worked out at some point, unless it gets moved into the prospect pool and an $8-10M IFA can be found.  Although, I would much rather spend my money on players that I can see on my roster, than on the hope and prayer that an IFA will show up, so two thumbs up to this approach.  As per usual, the roster is loaded with studs.  A more than sufficient defense, a shit ton of bats that (as mentioned earlier) led the league in HR's last season.  The pitching is probably the "weak" point of this team, and they are no slobs.  Everyone, act surprised when these guys are in the ALCS with Milwaukee, and then in the WS against some poor NL squad that will get swept.  You read it here first.

Honolulu: It sucks when you win 93 games and don't win your division.  It's a decent consolation when you then get a wild card spot.  But then it sucks again when your 93 wins are only good enough for third place in your division.  Still a decent consolation when your wild card spot is then the second WC spot.  The biggest consolation is when you get farther in the playoffs than the two teams above you in the division.  Good job, lepers.  No big-name-high-profile guys on the roster, and the offense isn't going to make any pitchers shit their pants.  But they have a ton of high-range guys with good gloves, along with an intriguing bullpen and an above-average rotation that I can picture winning a bunch of one-run games.  Not like 8-7 or 10-9 type games, maybe more like 3-2 and 1-0.  I like these guys, they've got spunk.  Hopefully it's not on their faces.

Colorado Springs: 99 wins, second in the division, the first wild card spot, and an early exit from the playoffs.  Five years in a row of high payroll and 90+ wins, eventually those teams have the floor fall out from underneath them, right?  Right?!  So how come this whole roster seems to be in their late 20's or early 30's?  Well that's frustrating.  I like the defense, they've got some good range and decent gloves, but the hitting doesn't strike me as the type that will dominate anyone, outside of a couple guys at the top.  The bullpen is pretty elite, and while I would prefer some better splits out of the guys in the rotation, it's still a pretty formidable group from top to bottom.  I'm not sure if they'll keep up with the Vancouver's and Milwaukee's of the league, but they're in the ballpark.

Anaheim: As much as it sucks being Honolulu, where you win 93 games and only get the second wild card spot, it's gotta suck even more to be these guys, where you win 85 games and are last in the division.  I mean how many teams in all of HBD win 85 games and then get that 4th place credit from WIS?  Anyway, greff has walked into a good situation, where the ML squad is actually pretty good, with a solid mix of vets and youth, payroll isn't out of control, and there are some good prospects waiting in the wings for the 30+ guys to leave.  I like the defense, I like the offense, and the pitching gives me a bit of a boner.  I can seriously see these guys jumping over Honolulu this year.  And then when Vancouver and Colorado get tired of spending $100M just to lose in the first round, Anaheim will be there to take over the top of the division.  Maybe not this year, but S28 or S29 are possibilities.  Stick with it greff.

Prediction: Vancouver, CS, Anaheim, then Honolulu

I'm gonna go have some chorizo and a beer, fuck you losers.  *drops mic on the floor*

AL South - Season 27

Happy Thanksgiving from Spain!  Unfortunately, it's just Thursday here, they don't exactly celebrate the American Thanksgiving.  I had to go to the butcher just to find a turkey, and it's still unclear as to whether or not the bird will have feathers and a beak when I pick it up.  And I'm picking it up tomorrow so that we can have Thanksgiving on Saturday, because today obviously isn't a holiday.  The girlfriend is working today, I have to work later tonight, and all of our friends are working.  It's just a Thursday.  Jueves, if you will.  Then I will get up early on Saturday to start cooking, we'll have about 15 people come over (some Americans, some Brits, some Spaniards) and have a late Friendsgiving.  Maybe we should call it Acquaintance-Giving.  Anyway.  I'm just excited about getting to watch some NFL football later today.  The six hour time difference kind of sucks, because your 1pm EST game means a 7pm start time for me, which is the time I head off to work, so maybe I'll get to watch the 4th quarter of that game when I get home, and then stay up late to watch your 4pm game.  Damn time zones.  Anyway, on to the AL South preview.

Houston: Low payroll and yet another really bad season last year, this season is looking to be just as bad, and it's another team with a gameplan I don't really understand.  I mean I get that they're stocking up on prospects and will be really good in the near future (cut salary, lose games, get IFA's and high draft picks, it's a tried and true method), I just don't get the methodology.  Anyway, the ML squad is really atrocious.  Only five guys on the roster have overalls of 70 or more, with the highest being 74.  I would love to make the joke that the franchise's AAA squad could beat the ML team, but even funnier is that the AA roster is more likely to beat the ML group, as currently there are three former top draft picks and a $20M IFA hanging out down there.  If last season's #2 overall draft pick gets a promotion from HiA to AA at some point in this season, then they might officially be the best AA squad in the history of BPF.  Anyway, the ML defense is horrible, the hitting is actually semi-decent, but the pitching is a dumpster fire.  The #5 pick this year, #2 last year, #2 in S25, #1 in S24, #19 in S23.  A quick and sharp decline.  Act surprised when they have another top 5 pick next season.  Quick side note, of this year's top five draft picks, four are from the AL.  Good job AL.

San Antonio: Another squad with a top five pick this year, and another squad that didn't really improve the ML roster much during the offseason.  The aforementioned big trade with Milwaukee has added some serious depth to the prospect pool, but that won't help the Big League team right now, unless Randall Mahaffey gets bumped up to the Bigs like he probably should (AAA last year, 1700+ AB's in the minors already, is he going to make significant gains in AA this year?).  I'll give SA some credit when it comes to their defense and the splits that their hitters have, they actually look like a ML squad in those areas.  They have some good arms in the bullpen, and Piersoll looks like he could be a legit SP1, but the quality drops off pretty quickly after that.  They'll be neck and neck with Houston for the bottom of the division and world all year.

Richmond: A bit of a down year last season, they finished second in the division, and in a top-heavy AL, 77 wins isn't going to get you a wild card spot.  But I appreciate a team that isn't afraid to throw money at the problem, and 4/5 of Richmond's ML roster is making more than $1M, giving them total payroll of nearly $96M, with still some space left for a piece late in the season when they want to push for the division title.  They're not flashy, with a bunch of high overall ratings, but they're deep in many areas.  The defense is more than solid, with a slew of guys that can fill the 2B/SS/3B/CF spots.  Offensively, they are such an AL squad.  A bunch of 1B/LF/RF/C/DH guys who can hit a million HR's and keep the opposition's pitchers honest.  It's actually a really nice mix of power, defense, and even a few guys who can steal some bases.  They don't have any pitchers who are going to win a Cy Young, but they're good enough that the offense won't need to score ten runs every game.  But can they keep up with......

Kansas City: .....last year's sub .500 team that made it to the World Series.  Are they the first sub .500 team to make a WS in this world?  Someone look that up for me.  Sergei, did you really extend a 36yo Benny Lopez before the season even started?  I know the guy is generally pretty healthy and hasn't been on the DL in a decade, but he's 36 and regressing already.  Couldn't you have waited until the season was almost over?  And couldn't you have put an option on there?  He's going to be a 39yo bullpen guy making $8M, so I hope he gets 20 wins for you this year at least.  I suppose this guarantees that he'll go into the HOF wearing a ***gots' hat though.  Anyway, the defense is solid, but not great.  The hitting is really really nice, with a good mix of youth and veterans.  In addition to ol' Benny, you've got Hong and Marquez leading the rotation, with Vic logging 120 innings from the bullpen (reminds me of how Rico more or less finished his career).  I think these guys will manage to stay ahead of Richmond, but I'm not sure if they have enough to fight their way back into the WS.

Prediction: KC, Richmond, Houston's AA team, SA, then Houston's ML squad.

NL South

Howdy y'all, and welcome to the Durty South, the land of BBQ and, well, let's just leave it at that. This has long been the home of the class of the NL. A couple teams ebb and flow, but the Atlanta Bullochs have been, mostly, consistently excellent, culminating in the bluegreyjay finally popping his HBD title cherry. Your GC is forthcoming blue, not to worry. Somehow the payroll has stayed low, and despite always finishing higher in the standings, there's always prospects in the system. Never gives out big money deals, yet always wins. The mark of a great owner, if you ask me. Whopping defense up the middle means opponents will have to try and hit it down the lines. As it stands right now, the pitching is a little short on deoth, but I have it from good sources that call-ups from AAA are on the way. If this line-up is strong enough to win the title then I feel rather cheated, but I almost always feel rather cheated. But the line-up does still feature Joel Harvey, and he's not too shabby. Not super confident in this team's chance of a repeat, but will always be in the mix.

The most World Series winning NL franchise in BPF history, the Jacksonville Jimmies continue their standard of excellence, averaging 100 wins over the last seven seasons. Somehow slipped to 90 wins last season. Offence features everything you want, especially in the splits department. Some top end power bats to be sure. Not sure I see any MVP types, but a couple just below that notch. Defence isn't the best, but the pitching should limit some of the opposition punch. Unfortunately, the best arms are limited in the amount of innings they can work. Should be a dog fight with the Bullochs all season.

Hoping to be hotter than a pepper sprout are the Jackson Generals. Featuring the best one-two punch in, possibly, BPF history, Eugenio Sojo and the great Alfredo Jarvis this line-up won't have much trouble putting numbers on the board. The pitching is, also, pretty damn good, especially Rob Ramsey. Who cares about the defence, which is merely adequate. This could be the season Jackson leapfrogs past J-ville and Atlanta.

For their first seven seasons, this was an awful franchise, the dennisdee got it together and brought this team up to be the model of mediocrity. He threw in the towel and keithj stepped in and continued the blah. Then he threw in  the towel, though he did seem to be at least adding prospect pieces. Now we welcome oakman (I'm more of a spruce guy myself) who faces the challenge of making the New Orleans Chin Music into a fearsome gang of ne'er-do-wells. Maybe, probably, won't happen this season, but with some patience, there could be light at the end of tunnel. Looking for immediate results, N'awlins threw HUUUUGE money at Midre Brandt to head a very capable staff of hurlers. When the batters make contact the ball will go far, but the power isn't backed with great splits, aside from Del Sierra. And holy shitballs that's a helluva shortstop in Harry Castro, splits be damned. He's just one of the players making up the best D I've reviewed so far. Every team in this division should finish well over .500.

ATLANTA  94-78
JACKSON  92-70
JACKSONVILLE  92-70
NEW ORLEANS  86-76
note: this division is pretty much a toss-up, a couple good years a couple bad years, anyone can take it.

AL East - Season 27

Chicago: 84 wins last year, and it was only good enough for 3rd in the division, with no wild card spot.  Ouch.  $20M/yr Bobby Slaughter only posted 11 wins after his 10 win injury plagued first season in Chicago, which must leave fans wondering how long it will take for the team to dangle him in front of other franchises if he gets off to a slow start this year.  His no-trade clause and player option on the 5th year of his deal make him a challenge to move though.  Fortunately, he has one of the more elite defenses in the world backing up him and the rest of the staff, along with some huge bats looking to give them run support.  Did I talk about this last year?  I bet I did.  Look at that roster, they've got six guys with power ratings over 80, and another two with ratings over 75.  Wild.  Did they lead the league in HR's last year?  Someone look that up for me.  The pitching staff doesn't have many inning eaters, but they've got enough depth that they can knock out the innings in different ways everyday.  I think I just talked myself into liking these guys.

Syracuse: Five seasons in a row of 90+ wins.  Huh?  What's funny (to me at least) is that the fewest wins of those five seasons was the season when they won the WS.  Go figure.  Last year was 102 wins and an early exit from the playoffs.  Almost $88M in salary this season, with space for another $12M if they want to make some moves, the Beavers clearly aren't going quietly into the night, and are willing to throw some money at the problem.  The infield defense is pretty solid.  Ward, Atkins, and Gant are scary at the plate.  But their bread is very much buttered on the mound, where Becker, Stewart, Philips, Carsasco, and Sabathia are as good of a rotation as you might find in this world.  Did this team lead the league in pitching last season?  Someone look that up for me.  If they add a good defensive CF to the starting lineup, look out.

Cincy: Quietly flying under the radar the last few years, their last three seasons saw wins of 94, 88, and 88 again this past season.  Solid defense, and some tremendous youth at the plate, the starters are clearly poised for a long run in this division.  The pitching is also young, and bordering on elite.  Why am I not sold on this team though?  Watch, I'm counting them out, so they'll win 100 games this season.  It'll happen.  Right after I predict an 85 win season.  mwhelan, you're welcome.

New York: 105 losses last year.  Slightly better than the 121 losses from the prior year!  Let's celebrate!  Payroll is down to about $50M, which is pretty low for the free-spending AL.  But with that drop comes a fairly decent drop in talent too.  The defense is just atrocious right now, and the lack of pop in the offense is somewhat disturbing.  Did they finish last in HR's last year?  Someone look that up for me.  Meanwhile, the pitching is very blah.  I only count a half dozen guys with control over 75.  Yikes.  BUT.....oops, sorry.  I was thinking there might be some solid guys ready to move up to the ML from AA or AAA, but those guys are still a year or two away, at least.  Another 100+ loss season?  Yup.

Prediction: Syracuse, Chicago, Cincy, then some college softball teams, then NY.

AL North - Season 27

I was looking this morning at how long I've been on WIS, which lead to me looking to see what the start date was for this world.  February 11th, 2008, which means this season will culminate somewhere around our 7th anniversary.  At this point, I'm down to just three worlds, two of which I have been in since the start, and the third I am far from a newbie in.  None of those three worlds ever take more than maybe a week to roll over after the ending of a season, which says something about the loyalty of the owners, and the quality of the leagues.  This world in particular is pretty amazing to me, considering the longevity of so many owners.  I feel like it's pretty easy for owners to get complacent and stagnant once they are in a world for a long time, and they start to put their imprint on a team.  If you draft and handle FA in a certain way, what is the motivation to make big trades or sign huge contracts during FA?  Yet somehow our world manages to make blockbuster trades and sign max deals every season.  Love it.  OK, that is all, now for the preview.

Fargo:  I'm starting to sound like a broken record, I might have even mentioned being a broken record in prior previews, but Jesus H Christ, how can a team be this bad for this long under one owner?  A new low last season with only 50 wins, but this season might be the turning point.  Virtually the entire ML roster is under the age of 30, and there are another half dozen youngsters in AAA who could get pulled up to the show to contribute.  But it's kind of time for this, right?  After more than a dozen seasons of sub .500 ball, shouldn't this resurgence be expected?  The defense is more than sufficient to get some outs, and the offense is nothing to sneeze at, while the pitching....eh.  With $60M in salaries, so many high draft picks over the years, and numerous seasons with $20M+ in the prospect budget, you would think at least one all-star pitcher would have found his way to this staff.  Maybe the hitting and defense can keep them in games?  Maybe it'll be yet another sub .500 season?  I'll bet on the latter.

Madison: blapo almost pulled out a .500 season last year, finishing just shy of that mark, despite leaving so much money on the table when it comes to salaries and prospect budgets.  It will be interesting to see if they can build on their near-.500 record last season, or if they will move backwards this season after having so many players leave via FA.  The ML roster does look a little bare at this point, but there are quite a few guys hanging out in AA and AAA that are all but ready for the Show.  Merv Harris, Ron Marisnick, Joe Carlyle, Jerome Stern (maybe next year), and Red Tresh (who hit .300 in a few ML stints already) are all waiting for that raise and hotel room to themselves when they go on road trips. In the meantime, the ML squad has some very average defense, just enough offense that you can't start all of your LR pitchers against them, and a really really solid bullpen.  Unfortunately, the starters leave a little to be desired, and the whole squad might suffer for it.  Expect another losing record this season.

Milwaukee: Another 90+ win season, another division title, ho hum.  And as per usual, a bunch of talk about trading ML pitching, and looking for prospects, which then turns into giving a max deal to one of the best players in the world, and the multi-player trade that brings Omlansky and Calixte into the franchise, with the only question being whether they will jump right into the ML squad, or spend some more time in the minors.  Fortunately for the rest of us, Milwaukee finally had to give up a good chunk of their prospect pool in order to get both of those guys, but unfortunately for the rest of the AL, this might end up being your rep in the World Series.  Throw those guys in with Lance, Bubba, Roque, RJ, and Hitchcock, and we might be looking at an 110 win team.  Sorry AL.

Minnesota: Only 70 wins last season, the fewest since ruffles took over this franchise, the question on everybody's (nobody's?) mind is whether or not they can snap back this season into their usual winning ways.  I'm gonna give those chances a really strong 'maybe.'  The defense is just missing a few gloves that could make them really stellar, and the hitting has just enough to make you take them seriously, but not enough that you worry about the team ERA going up whenever you play them.  I would argue that the pitching is really their one strong suit, but it isn't elite either.  Ramirez, McBride, and Polcovich are a threesome that you could potentially ride through a playoff run, but the rest of the rotation has holes, and the bullpen isn't going to blow your socks off.  A few guys in the minors could get called up if there was a need, but a lot of them are older guys who are out of options.  They'll get second in the division, but I'm not sure if they'll have enough for a wild card spot.

Prediction: Milwaukee, Minny, Fargo, then Madison.

NL East

We've had three World Series titles in this division with three of the four teams winning one each. The one franchise goose egged is the Chicago Wet Bandits, despite 14 playoff appearances, tying them with the Boston franchise, for divisional post-season showings. For a team this was the division powerhouse but lean times have arrived and Chicago fell to fourth for the first time in team history. Still looking kind of lean this season. Amazingly, on a sub .500 team Cooper Lincoln went 14-7 season despite 29 control leading to 105 walks. Almost by default Wilfredo Alonso is the best hitter. Not saying he isn't good, but he's more of a complimentary type guy than someone you build a line-up around. Plus he's a shitty catcher, basically a DH in the NL. Defense has a lot of range to get to balls, but not the gloves to consistently make the play.

Florida 66'ers scraped together 81 wins last season. I don't see that happening this season. No player truly stands out. the defence is the opposite of Chicago, not much range but solid glovesmanship, if that's a word and I'm aware that it isn't. t he offence won't score much and the pitching, despite fairly good control, won't overpower opposition line-ups. Expect a good draft spot next season .

Well, Pep Choo you had a helluva run, enjoy this season because I doubt you will be signed to a ML contract next season. Should make the Hall Of Fame easily, one would think. It's unlikely Choo and his Baltimore Lake Trout co-horts wikll go out on a high note. There's definitely a bat or two to get some run production, especially Gordon Maranville and Juan Frieri (who, despite playing in the NL, is listed as a DH). Pitching is real concern interms of quality and, more critically, quantity. Defence isn't so shit hot either.

Guided by BPF's only real life baseball mind (that we know of), the Boston Brewers won an astonishing 95 games last season, making a mockery of my predicted 82 wins. A mockery, I tells ya. How, I have no idea, but then no one has ever hired me to run an actual baseball team, so there you go. Looking at the team, no one really jumps out at you. There's a line-up full of extremely similar hitters, not great, but not terrible. Still no real catcher for the pitchers to throw to, and the rest of the defense is not exactly a collective Ozzie Smith. Good control will help keep some batters from reaching first, but hits are another matter. If m22pank gets 95 wins again, he is the best manager in HBD.

Predicted order of finish:
BOSTON  81-81
CHICAGO  73-89
BALTIMORE 72-90
FLORIDA  64-88

Hey! It's the NL Preview!

Welcome all, to Season 27 of BPF. We had an active pre-season with some giant money being thrown around, and yet everyone still has cap space. We must be good owners. There was, also, a good amount of wheeling and dealing. We must be dedicated owners. My big plans went up in smoke when, after leading since the first cycle of the FA period, I was outbid for Lance Foster bylong term rival foolsgold. "Curses" I said, aloud "Double curses, even". Still, my offense is so, so much better than yours. No, seriously. So much better. Anyhoodle, nuff' 'bout me. let's look at the National League. Time constraints lead to a reformatting of the preview, so deal with it, okay.

NL NORTH

This division hasn't seen much success, let alone a dynasty, since BPF's founding. The only World Series champ was many, many seasons back by the Pittsburgh ABC's franchise. Did you click the link? Did you look at the payroll? This team could have transformed itself into an instant con tender had indy gone out and splurged on FAs, to add to an impressive stable of young talent. Let's hope for 60 wins, which is much more likely with a few promotions from AAA. Despite concerns from a couple owners, the ABCs were able to win 68 games and avoid the 60/40 rule. The line-up features firstbagger  Vic Hoiles one of the world's best young hitters. There's a couple other capable bats but not a ton of depth. Defensively, it ain't the prettiest. Pitching is where the real concern is, with control being an especially sore point. Weak defense plus weak pitching equals a lot of opposition. Combine that with an average offence, and it's safe to say it won't be a super season in the Steel City.

Asking the world originals, do you guys remember the threester/domi chat wars? Woo, those were scintillating displays of complete and utter idiocy. Well threester's old franchise soon went on to become, probably, the least successful franchise in BPF history. Lately, though, things have been turning around for the New Britain Rock Cats. And great cats look at the power bats! Me n chicks dig the longball and so does macwetherbee (is that an actual last name? I like it). And look! Heinie Cormier continues to be an overpaid, underperforming splat of a ball player. Stephen Watson has one of the best arms in BPF highlights a pretty solid squad of pitchers, but defence won't help matters.

Now we turn our attention to Wichita Jack Straws. Here's a franchise that has puttered along in a division of teams that putter along. Pitching seems to be strength with standout reliever Christopher Garcia anchroing the late innings. The line-up is built around masher Pat Penny and features a slugging catcher named Alejandro Gonzalez who goes through teams like I've gone through girlfriends. Defense features one notable standout shortstop, but not sure if dhomard plans on using him as a starter.

And rounding up the division are the Fightin' Dover Deadspin. We appear to have, on paper, the cream of the NL North here. Defense has a lot more depth than the previous teams reviewed. The batting line-up is built around contact, and seems platoonish, with some guys strong against lefties but not righties and vice versa. Then you got Emil Manuel, who can hit anyone, and I would love to have on my team.  I also really like stud starter Douglas Reynolds. 90 wins is realistic for this team, but may come a few short.

Predicted order of finish:
DOVER  88-74
NEW BRITAIN  84-78
WICHITA  80-82
PITTSBURGH  58-104 (UH-OH)

27 seasons, 27 Asses

Words? words are useless...