Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Who's Hot and Who's Not

Who's Hot


Kirt Purcell, rf, Tacoma Amber Flashlongs - Kirt is leading the league with a .455 batting average through 14 games, he has also added 7 HRs and 24 RBI for a .964 slugging percent.

Greg Walker, sp, Minnesota Conspiracy - 2-0 in 3 starts in his new Minnesota home with a dazzling 0.95 ERA and .167 OVA.

Walter Miller, lf, Philadelphia Black Lightning - through 14 games he is hitting .381 with 8 HRs and 26 runs batted in.

Tim Kinney, 1b, Fresno Griz - leads the league with 10 HRs.

Wilt Pagnozzi, sp, Nashville Nerd Herders - In his 3 starts (2 with Burlington and 1 with Nashville) the young starter has went 1-1 with a 0.60 ERA, striking out 12 batters 15 innings with a .207 OAV.


Who's Not

Jolbert Mieses, dh , Philadelphia Black Lightning - The 3 time Silver Slugger is currently batting .167 (10 / 60 at the plate) with 4 HRs.

Al Rios, sp, Cincinnati Sinners - Cincinnati's top hurler is 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA in his first 3 starts.

Damaso Peron, lf, Little Rock Jaeger Bombs - Last seasons NL MVP has stuggled to start the season with an OBP 100 points lower then his career average and is on pace to strike out 183 times.

Clem McCallum, sp, Atlanta Crackers - Atlanta's number one starter is 0-1 with an 8.56 era, close to double his career average.



Here we go!

And another season is upon us! With the season in its third week of play we have already had a flurry of trades including top talent and a few teams take off to start the year. Let's take a quick look back at what has already transpired in Season 5 and also a look forward as to what the season holds:

The Free Agent Period saw a few stud players change teams. The Philadelphia Black Lightning went into overdrive signing 3 type A free agents, including starting pitcher Joe Cohen, who signed a 50 million dollar deal over 4 years to come to Philly. Philly also signed Alex Arnold a power hitting rf to take the place of currently injured Chris Lyons who is still recovering from an ACL tear suffered late last season. The teams third signing was Jarrod Collins who alreadly blew out his elbow this year and Tommy John surgery is not out of the question.

In their quest to repeat as Division Champions the New York Evil Empire signed 2b T.J. Stark to a 20.6 million dollar deal over 2 seasons, which included a 5 million dollar signing bonus.

The Burlington Black and Blue Brachiosaurus went big on last years silver slugger AL at 1b in Nick Philips. Nick signed a 61 million dollar deal over 4 seasons. Don't expect Nick to come anywhere near last years power numbers playing in Burlington though.

On to Trades, the biggest trade of the season so far was approved by the Commissioners Office just a short while ago. The trade was between the Florida FlyTekks and the Salem Witch Doctors. The FlyTekks continued their rebuilding project acquiring Stewart Wells a projected RF but sources within the organization say he can play numerous positions and are unsure where he will end up once with the Major League team. Also coming over in the deal was Corban Walters one of the top starting pitching prospects in the League. He is still 2-3 years away from the Majors but there is no doubt he will be a force once he reaches his potential. P.T. Abbott was also acquired and is slotted as the teams #3 starter this season. While Florida got some incrediable talent in this deal it didn't come cheap. The team sent Ace Chad Lamb, who is still improving and Galahad Dale another top line starter. I would have to say both teams got solid deals here, although trading Lamb is tough. Florida saved around 10 million in salary room in this deal too so I give them a small nod, I am not sure anyone else could have (or would have been willing to) offered them as much as they got from Salem. This trade does give Salem quite the rotation which should continue to pay off.

Burlington has also made a plehrea of deals this season. Two including superstar ML talent. The team first acquired Jimmie Lugo from Minnesota Conspiracy for Greg Walker the oft traded pitcher who is now with his 5th Franchise and a few other players to help even out the salary difference. According to GM japheth007 "Greg Walker is going to be nice and happy in Minnesota!"

Burlington also acquired Philip Cashman the ultra-talented ss from Nashville Nerd Herders for Major League cf Peter Elster a super fast contact hitter with good eye, Eugene Garcia an all around talent who was Burlingtons top pick a year ago and Wilt Pagnozzi, who is listed as Nashville's #2 starter this year.

I would have to say Burlington gave up a lot to get both. I think the Walker for Lugo deal was a more effiecent deal but both make this team more then a pitching ballclub and should help improve their road record this season in their bid for a Wild Card spot. Minnesota got a stud starter in Walker, it just breaks down to whether you would like to have a great everyday player or a great every 5 day player. And to each his own there. Nashville got 3 really good players in return for Cashman, again as with Florida I am not sure anyone else could or would beat that offer.

The season is into its third week of games and a few teams have set themselves out above the rest. In the AL the Montreal Royals have started out 12-2 and lead the AL North by 4 games, the Salem Witch Doctors have also started out 12-2 and lead the AL West by 3 games, The Philadelphia Black Lightning have started off 13-1 and lead the AL East by 7 games. In the NL South the Charlotte Heavy Petting Zoo have started out 12-2 to lead the divison by 4 games.

A Look Towards the Future:

Divison Predictions:

National League

North:
Syracuse SkyRockets
Minnesota Conspiracy
Portland Hippies
Pittsburgh Pranksters

East:
New York Evil Empire
Dover Devils
Atlanta Crackers
Louisville Long Balls

South:
Little Rock Jaeger Bombs
Charlotte Heavy Petting Zoo*
Florida FlyTekks
Nashville Nerd Herders

West:
Boise Spudchuckers x
San Diego Zonkeys*
Fresno Griz
Colorado Mountain Goats

American League

North:
Montreal Royals
Salt Lake City Polygamist
Trenton Generals
Cincinnati Sinners

East:
Philadelphia Black Lightning x
Burlington Black and Blue Brachiosaurus
Boston Puritans
Hartford Yellow Jackets

South:
Jacksonville Dolphins
Iowa City I Wanna Score More*
Tampa Bay Waves
Houston texans

West:
Salem Witch Doctors
Tacoma Amber Flashlongs*
Helena Grizzlies
San Jose Enchiladas

----------------------------
* - Wildcard Winner
x - Homefield Advantage

Playoffs
National League

Division Play-in Series

(3) Little Rock v (6) San Diego
Little Rock in 4

(4) New York v (5) Charlotte
Charlotte in 5

Divisonal Championship Series

(1) Boise v (5) Charlotte
Boise in 5

(2) Syracuse v (3) Little Rock
Little Rock in 7

National League Championship Series


(1) Boise v (3) Little Rock
Boise in 7


American League
Divison Play-in Series

(3) Montreal v (6) Tacoma
Montreal in 3

(4) Jacksonville v (5) Iowa City
Iowa City in 5

Divisonal Championship Series

(1) Philadelphia v (5) Iowa City
Philadelphia in 4

(2) Salem v (3) Montreal
Salem in 5

American League Championship Series

(1) Philadelphia v (2) Salem
Philadelphia in 7

------------------------------------------------

World Series

(1) Philadelphia v (1) Boise
Philadelphia in 6

Philadelphia
Philadelphia Black Lightning (AL)
zhawks
View Hardball Dynasty Profile



Rumors:

Sources close to the clubs say the Pittsburgh Pranksters and the Philadelphia Black Lightning have been talking about a deal including lf Walter Miller, although neither club has made any offical word of these talks.

Word is clubs keep calling about 2b Larry Carver but Flordia keeps saying no.

Sources within the league say the Philadelphia Black Lightning have been rumored to be taking offers for Ed Donovan. The team denies the reports saying "We feel very comfortable with where we are as a Franchise at the moment."



**Rumors (whether true or not/whether about your team or not) can be sent to the WIS sitemail inbox of zhawks or emailed to zhurdlez@gmail.com, if there are enough participents hopefully the few of us posting on the blog I think we could some good stuff up here whether true or not, I am sure indiansrck27 wouldn't mind getting a few in his inbox either, but I don not want to speak for him. Thanks!**

Friday, June 26, 2009

Season 5 Underway!

Well season 5 in the world of Ripken Jr has officially started.

Predictions!

Division Winners:

AL

AL North : Montreal Royals

AL East : Philadelphia Black Lightning

AL South: Iowa City I Wanna Score More

AL West: Salem Witch Doctors

NL

NL North : Syracuse SkyRockets

NL East : New York Evil Empire

NL South : Florida FlyTekks

NL West : Boise Spudchuckers


Wildcard Winners

AL

1 Jacksonville Dolphins

2 Burlington Black and Blue Brachiosaurus

NL

1 San Diego Zonkeys

2 Little Rock Jaeger Bombs



World Series

Philadelphia Black Lightning vs Boise Spud Chuckers

Philly in 6

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Season 5 Trade Reviews

There have been 6 completed trades in this seaosn thus far. 3 of them included the SkyRockets, 2 the Puritans and 2 included the B&B Brachiosaurus.

We will start off witht he trade that inculded neither of the 3.

The Florida FlyTekks and new owner Flytekk send Geoff Rolen to the Dover Devils in exchange for Chip Sutton.

Analysis: I dont like this trade one bit on the Florida side. Why trade a bona fide #2 starter with great control, splits and velocity for a average at best position player. Although he has power he is not a CF, and with his splits could be in for a rough season.


Trenton Generals send Benny Trinidad, Bobby Ray Gordon and Randall Matheson to the Syracuse SkyRockets in exchange for Tom Owens, Oscar Flanagan and Alton Parris.

Analysis: I like this trade for both teams. Trinidad is one of the elite hitters in the game witha mix of power, conact, great eye and splits. Parris is a future gold glove SS, Flangan has potential to be a great 2 or 3 starter. And Owens can develop into a very nice SU or Closer.


The Jacksonville Dolphins send Kevin Lee to the Syracuse SkyRockets in exchange for Brandon Lazzeri, Richard Hujimoto and Vinny Collins

Analysis: I love this trade both ways. For Syracuse their getting a CF who can cover any part of the field and catch anything too. Plus he is not too shabby with the stick in his hands. Lazzeri is a solid back of the rotation guy. Hujimoto I LOVE. He has great control and ever better splits. Not very durable so its tough to pitch on a consistant basis. He is very underrated due to this fact. If Jax went with a 6 man rotation Huji could make a great addition.



Boston Puritans send Tony Woo to the Syracuse SkyRockets in exchange for Del Dotel

Analysis: Not much to say here, Dotel is a very knowledgable pitch caller.


Boston Puritans send Dwight Knight and Jerry Hayes to the Burlington Black and Blue Brachiosaurus in exchange for Tony Megias and Andres Dominguez.

Analysis: I love this trade for both teams. The Puritans pick up a very solid hitting COF and formerly very high regarded International prospect Megias. Who still has the potential to be a very good SP. The B&BB pick up top pitching prospect Jerry Hayes to complete their very good and young rotation. And Future gold glove winner Knight.


Burlington Black and Blue Brachiosaurus send Santiago Tarraga to the Salem Witch Doctors in exchange for Fred Turner and Stephen Borland

Analysis: Love the trade. Salem picks up another former B&BB Intl FA who fell out of favor with Irock. Tarraga still has the potential to be a solid 2 or 3 SP. Burlington picks up a solid hitting 2B in Turner and a slugging young catcher in Borland.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Salem Times

Review of season 4 moves made in order to turn this franchise into a winner thru the eyes of a new coach.

The Blog Is Officially Back!

Thats right folks after 2 seasons of being gone the blog is back.

If you would like to contribute send me(indiansrck27) a trade chat.