Ripken Jr

Season 9 FA Bonanza, revisted 5 years later.

2011-12-20T14:22:00.000-06:00

5 offseasons ago (Season 9), Ripken, Jr saw its biggest offseason in its young history. Actually the biggest offseason free agent bonanza I've seen in any of my worlds. Aside from your typical top shelf free agents, there were 7 sure fire hall of famers, 7 likely 1st ballot hall of famers all on the market at the same point. To make matters worse, its not like this was a big surprise, seemingly every team had prepared 2-3 seasons in advanced to be a player in that market when big contracts were handed out like candy on halloween. So five seasons later, as all of their contracts have expired, how did it turn out?

Lets start with TedWilson who wasn't scheduled to hit the market, but in order to save money saw his option declined by irock, only to be picked up at a cheaper (season 9) price w/ 3 more years tacked on to the back end. Wilson was the coming off MVP awards in season 8, along w/ a season 1 MVP, so to say his declined option on a $20.0 mil contract was a surprise is obvious. At the age of 30 that offseason, there was no doubt he was at his peak skill rate, and his lower makeup meant he'd see a decline earlier than some others was to be expected, however he started slipping in skill right away and took big steps back in just 2 offseasons later. It seemed neither irock, nor the slew of coaches afterwords were able to recapture his MVP magic. He put a respectable .850ish OPS over the next 4 seasons, however he was never able to recapture the 1.000+ OPS magic he had in the 3 years prior to hitting that offseason. In fact, Ted Wilson never saw an additional award come his way after compiling a slew of silver sluggers, all star appearances and MVPs thru the first 8 seasons. The $52 mil irock had spread out over 4 seasons sure looked like a bargin at the time, but seemingly became an albratros to the rebuilding owners who took over down the road. Following the end of this contract, Ted Wilson never played another game in Ripken, JR, however after retiring this offseason, he became part of the 1st hall of fame class, an honer well deserved.

AchilesCohen is one of the elite power bats this world has seen. At the ripe age of 28, sporting 98 power he hit the open market. His high makeup and age meant he was going to keep just about all of that power thru the length of his contract. 98 power doesn't grow on trees, especially from a guy capable of playing more than just 1b. A power man's 3b, or a top shelf corner outfield bat, his $100 mil contract over 5 seasons was no surprise. Cohen has been surprisingly short of awards thru his career, but he's going to end his career w/ the most homers in this world, a feat not to be overlooked. Achiles knocked out 267 long balls over the coarse of his 5 year deal. At the age of 33, he applied for free agency once again this past offseason and signed a very reasonable 3 year deal for $19.5 mil and has already knocked out 10 long balls as he hopes to make a late season push towards home run #700.

LarryCarver's power wasn't quite in the range of Cohen, but his play in the field, particularly his range was much stronger. Salem was able to secure season 3's MVP for $99.5 mil over 5 years after just missing out on Philip Cashman. Cashman was never able to recapture another MVP w/ Salem but he did reward their fans with a world series title in season 9, in addition to all star game appearance in season 10, 11 & 12. Carver knocked out 40+ dingers while playing solid defense in RF each of his 1st 4 seasons of this deal, before a drop of power 2 offseasons ago lead to a drop in homers to 34. Despite hitting the FA market this past offseason, Salem was able to secure his bat for a nother 3 seasons and $20.4 mil. Salem was certainly hoping for more than the 1 WS ring Carver helped bring to the great northwest, but its hard to argue w/ the team's overall success the last 5 seasons.

PhillipCashman was the last of the big bats to hit the market in season 9. A poor man's short stop defensively, but a gold glover at 3b, 2b or any corner OF spot, his switch hitting ability, upper 80s power, and great eye made him arguably the greatest all around position player not only of that offseason, but in the this world. Pittsburgh was able to sign him for $100 mil over 5 seasons. Cashman would later get traded from Pittsbugh for hall of fame pitcher Pat Politte, but his all star game appearances in all 5 seasons of his deal, and his 4 silver sluggers at 3b show that he was well worth the investment. Cashman avoided the free agent market this offseason, electing to re-up w/ Louisville for 4 years, $8.1 mil per season. While his range and power have certainly taken a hit, Cashman remains one of the better all around players in this world and a sure fire hall of famer.

Considering how great Cashman is, the arm he fetched mush have been pretty good right? Well would you believe that arm was also a part of this free agent class? PatPolitte was one of 3 pitchers in this class to pick up a max contract, $110 mil over 5 seasons, including the max bonus. Politte made the all star team with irock, then after getting swapped over to Pittsburgh the folling offseason for Cashman, proceeded to pick up back to back cy young awards in seasons 10 & 11, only to top them off with back to back world series rings in seasons 12 & 13. Not bad, eh? Politte, now 36 resigned w/ Pittsburgh for $50 mil over 3 seasons. Despite the slow start, he's aged well and should pass jesus Fernandez for most career wins by the time he hangs them up and will make a run at 300 wins.

When Salem traded away ChadLamb prior to season 8 it was thought he'd never set foot in a Salem uniform again. Lamb was let go in a move to secure pitching that would be around the organization longer and free up room for the much needed big bat. Flytekk picked up Lamb for a max contract as the cream on top of his organization overhaul. Lamb won 2 NL cy youngs for flytekk prior to getting traded to NY last offseason and winning the AL cy young. Most important, Lamb was the final piece to flytekk's rebuilding puzzle and rewarded him with a WS championship in season 11. Realizing he liked the rebuilding more than the actual championship, Fly moved him to New York to start the rebuilding process. Fly has since left the game, but his championship will always live in history. Meanwhile, in a move the organization never thought would happen, Salem brought Lamb back into the fold this past offseason @ $77 mil over 5 years hoping to help recapture some of the World Series magic he had twice brought to the organization.

Finally, OscarBaumann rounded out the stars in this free agent class. At the time of his signing in season 9, there was no question Oscar was the most accomplished pitcher in this world's early history. An all star each of the first 8 seasons, a 4 time Cy Young winner, even a perfect game in the mix all at the age of 32 w/ a 94 make up rating. There was no reason to think he'd fall off cliff as hard as he did. Former world commish zhawk's had let his training budget slip a little, then he left the game completely with no reasoning. The result was a team that aged quickly thru neglect. Baumann tossed up 20 wins in season 9, but once zhawks left in neglect during season 10, it was all down hill. The 19 losses in season 11 was once unthinkable, but the result of the mess zhawks had left behind. Baumann was eventually moved to Salem last season hoping to recapture some of that prior glory, before hitting the free agent market this offseason. He signed with Durham for $4.6 mil this offseason where's he remains in the bullpen once again putting up good numbers. He should be a 1st ballot lock overall, but it will always be a shame that he'll miss out on the 50 or so wins left on the table thru neglect. I think I'm not the only one hoping he'll see another all star game out of the pen before its all said and done.

In conclusion, it would appear Salem, Austin & Pittsburgh all won that offseason as their moves from that city (or subsequent flip in Pittsburgh) were keys to their WS titles that followed.

Season 12, League Championships, Heroes & Chumps

2011-07-19T13:07:00.004-05:00

Salem over New York (4-1):

Hero: In season 10, New York upended #1 seed Salem 3-0. In Season 11, New York upended #1 seed Salem 4-1. Finally, in season 12, Salem gets a measure of revenge, upending #1 seed New York 4-1. Salem's redemption is in large part owed to season 11's ROY Ronald Redmond. A year after opening the eyes of Ripken, Jr with 40+ homers and 140+ rbi, Redmond came back down to earth, struggling to knock out 15 long balls and 52 rbi w/ a sub .800 OPS. However, with a trip to the world series on the line, Redmond flashed the skills that made him a household name last year. Redmond hit safely in all 5 games (.421) with a homer run and 7 rbi. In game 2, Ronald drove in the game winning run in the top of the 9th to push Salem out to a 2-0 lead in the series. In game 5, Redmond's 3 run blast in the 8th, gave Salem their first lead of the game and help pave the way to a series clinching win and a chance at October Glory.

Chump: Deivi Escobar. The hall of fame hopeful, Deivi had arguably the best season of his career at the ripe age of 35. A 1.2 WHIP, 3.22 era, 18 wins vs 5 losses all look great, but history's fame is created in the postseason and Deivi came up well short in this series. Handed the ball twice in 5 games, Deivi surrendored 5 runs on 11 hits in 6 innings in game 2, and 3 runs on 6 hits over 7.1 innings in game 5. While the game 5 start was nothing to be ashamed about, on a night when New York needed him to be great, Deivi came up a third of an inning short.

Pittsburgh over Fresno (4-3)
Hero: Clyde Valent. Clyde came up big at the biggest moments each time Pittsburgh found their backs against the wall. Dispite not attempting a stolen base all season, his pressence on the base paths in game 4 caused enough distraction to allow Arthur Roberts to crush a meatball over the fences for the Pittsburgh only scoring in an important, series tying win. Several nights later, with Pittsburgh down 3-2 and facing elimination Valent cranked a walk off 2-run homer to deep RCF. One night later, Valent once again found himself at the plate with the game and series on the line. Down 1-0 entering the 7th, Pittsburgh loaded the bases with 2 outs, brining Valent to the plate. Once again Valent would crush a pitch over the RCF fence for a grand slam helping to send Pittsburgh to their first ever World Series.

Chump(s): Enrique Miro, Leon Patrick, and Jimmy Hammond. Three different times Fresno headed into the 7th inning with the lead in this series. All 3 times they'd blow a save. Hammond allowed back to back homers (a 3 run shot and a solo shot) after comming into the 8th w/ a 1 run lead. Patrick gave up 3 runs in the 9th of game #6, including Valent's walk off homer. Miro gave up Valent's granslam in the 7th of game #7. In total, this wasn't a game for either bullpen, the winning team scored late to take the game in every game of this series with the exception of Pittsburgh's 4-1 win in game #4.

Season 12, Round 2: Heros and Chumps

2011-07-18T11:27:00.006-05:00

New York over Burlington (3-0)
Hero: After Burlington's shocking upset of St Louis, New York took advantage of the rest obtained over their bye and quickly dispatched Burlington in 3 games. Norberto Santos paced the offense for the Moose Knuckles from the top of the order. In addition to his steady play at the hot corner, Norberto batted .357 in the series (5-14) with scoring 3 runs and driving in 3 runs. Santos doubled to lead off game 1, and scored to give Omar Vargas all the run support he'd need in a 2-0 victory. He followed that up by launching a bases clearing 3-run double in the bottom of the 2nd to lead New York to an early 3-0 lead, a game eventually won in thrilling fashion with a walk off single in the bottom of the 9th. Finally, in the clinching game 3, Santos lead off the game again with a double, crossing home plate a few batters later, setting the pace for an easy 7-3 victory.
Chump: Delino Rodriquez. Following a long and grueling season, and a tough 5 game set vs St Louis, its obvious Delino is ready for the postseason. New York's tough pitching staff did Delino no favors, constantly pounding him inside, leading to many weak grounders, pop ups and a handful of strikeouts. Just 1 hit in his 12 appearances, no walks and 11 runners stranded on the bases. A sub standard season, based upon his prior success ends with a sub standard series and a trip back home to freshen up for next year.

Salem over Syracuse (3-2)
Hero: An exciting 5 game set that saw Cy Young hopeful Pablo Bonilla save the day in all 3 of Salem's victories. 2.2 innings of 1 hit relief in game 1 allowed Salem to win on a walk off error in the bottom of 12. 3 nights later, with Salem facing elimination, Bonilla got the ball with a 4 run lead in the 7th. Bonilla shut down the door, save a solo shot to open up the 9th before handing the ball to McCraken for the final out and set the stage for a deciding game 5. With the series on the line, Salem holding on to a slim 3-1 lead, Jesus turned things over to Bonilla to close the door in game #5 and send The Witch Doctors back to the ALCS. For the series, Bonnilla carried a WHIP just a shade north of 1, and an ERA of 1.6, not to mention the two huge 2+ innings of work in game 1 & 3.
Chump: Paul Gibson. the .318 average over the series looks pretty good, however 4 of his 7 hits came in the 11-2 game 2 laugher, leaving him 3-17 in the other 4 games. However, the biggest reason for this award came at the end of game #1. In a tight extra innings affair, Salem got runners on the corners with no body out. However, Tanhill bounced back to strike out Tony Trevino and getting an easy pop out out of George Fossum. When Garcia hit it softly back to Gibson at 2b, Syracuse fans felt certain they were heading for the 13th inning. However, Gibson botched job allowed Garcia to reach 1st safely, scoring pinch runner Terry Lewis and sending Salem home a winner.

Fresno over Austin (3-0)
Hero: Connie Lemaster, the hero of their round 1 series over Boston, returns as hero again in round 2. How does a pitcher top a 1 hitter in the postseason? By throwing 8.1 innings of 6 hit, 3 run (2 earned) ball against the potent Austin lineup. As if that wasn't enough, LeMaster gave himself all the run support he'd need in game 1 with a sacrafice fly to the gap in the 4th and a 3 run homer down the left field line off of eventual hall of famer Chad Lamb. Is a perfect game in grasp for Connie as he keeps attempting to outdo himself each round?
Chump(s): Chad Lamb and Corban Walters. Two aces, once traded for one another in a huge blockbuster, 4 world series rings between them, multiple all star appearances, Cy Young nominations and victories would spell the resume of many a hall of fame inductee. As if Lamb's lack luster game 1, including the 3 run shot to his oppossing pitcher wasn't bad enough, facing elimination Walters couldn't even escape the 2nd inning. A double, single, fly out, walk, fielder's choice to plate a run w/ the bases loaded, another double, then a triple and finally a wild pitch gave Fresno a 6-0 lead from which they'd never look back.

Pittsburgh over Las Vegas (3-1)
Hero: The Killer C's (Carlos Fuentes, Carlos Alveraz, Chet Turner, Clyde Valent). Its hard to differiant b/w the 1st and the last at the top of Pittsburgh order. Certainly Las Vegas wishes they would have stayed home. A combined 24-64 at the plate (.375 avg), 18 runs (75% of the team's runs scored), 17 rbi and 7 home runs.
Chump: Julian Hall. I think its safe to say this is a series Hall would love to forget. Following an outstanding rookie campaign, with the bright lights of the playoffs at full glare, Hall wilted under the pressure and failed to deliever for Las Vegas. That's failed to deliever anything other than a single walk and weak ground out to 1b scoring a runner from 3rd with 1 out. Otherewise, he was 0-16 at the plate despite only 2 strikeouts over the entire series. You'd have thought that a few of those other 14 outs would find a hole somewhere, anywhere, but not with Pittsburgh flashing the leather.

Season 12, round 1: Heros & Chumps

2011-07-13T11:53:00.003-05:00

Back by popular demand (ie I actual thought about it and have a little time to squeeze in, don't know if anyone actually cares) its time for the first round of this season's playoff Heros and playoff chumps.

Burlington over St Louis (3-2):
Hero: Charles Tamura. It wasn't all that long ago that Tamura was considered one of the elite center fielders in this world; a 3 time all star and twice silver slugger from seasons 3 thru season 6, Tamura was a solid combination of speed, power, defense the day he entered the majors. What once looked like a promising hall of fame career, started to hit the skids around the same time the Black Lightening franchise started to hit the skids. A late season trade to Burlington last season allowed Tamura to flash signs of his old self, however this season was another dissapointment, until now that is. Despite hitting just .252 and being forced over to RF, Tamura saved his best for the playoffs. A key 2 run homer in the 4th inning lead Burlington to a 3-1 game 2 lead and evened the series. 2 nights later, with the scene shifted back to the arched city, Tamura picked up a key rbi double to help push Burlington out to a 2 run lead. Burlington 2-1 series lead was short lived, as St Louis bounced back to trounce Burlington in game 4. A quick 3-0 St Louis lead in game 5 looked like the death nail, however Tamura help lead the come back by driving in their first run after getting hit with a pitch. During his next trip to the plate, with Burlington now down 5-1, Tamura drove a pitch over the wall to pull Burlington back to w/n 3 runs. During his next trp, Tamura would draw a walk and later scored to tie the game at 5 helping Burlington force extra innings where they'd win the series with a dramatic walk off 2 run homer in the bottom of the 12th.

Chump: Art Conner. With everything going St Louis way in game 5, up 5-2 with 2 outs in the 7th Conner gave up a line drive double to score Tejada from 1st. Conner remained on the mound for the 8th where he promptly loaded the bases before giving up a game tying double and handing the ball off to the next reliever. A had a feeling at the begining of the year, as well as at the begining of the playoffs that this was St Louis' year to take home the big prize. Their time is coming, there is little doubt of that, but thanks to Conner's game 5 performance, like the cubs, they're going to have to wait until next season.

Syracuse over Jacksonville (3-2)
Hero: This is a series that had a bit of eveything. Dominate pitching, offensive explosions, clutch hits, big comebacks and long homers. With so many heros, its hard to pick just one, Hic Hartley jumps to the front of the line by hitting .286 with a homer, 7 rbi and 4 runs scored. Hic drove in the 1st or 2nd run of each Syracuse victory in this series, helping to set an early tone for each win as well as driving in 2 key runs to bring Syracuse to w/n 8-7 in game 5, then later scoring the tying run in the next at bat.

Chump(s): Jacksonville's key sluggers Jolbert Mieses, Frank Donovan & kent Stinnett, all regulars to the mid season classic, hit a respective .167, .100 and .111 on the series. With so many other picking up the slack, just 1 or 2 key hits would from any of these 3 heart of the order batters would have won the series for Jacksonville.

Fresno over Boston (3-0)
Hero: For all the drama in the AL, the NL 1st round was quick and easy for both series winners. Fresno's offense did a fine job of dispatching Boston, but Connie LeMaster's 1 hit 13-0 shut out to open the series gave clear signal that Boston wasn't about to make a cinderella run. LaMaster's 9 ks and 0 walks proved that he wasn't just getting lucky, but clearly outmatching Boston on this early October evening.

Chump: Its not Boston's fault that they made the playoffs a season or two before they were ready. Ridney's made great strides the last couple of season rebuilding the franchise and despite the .500 record the poor division allowed him to sneak in a season or two early. With a roster full of young developing talent, and plenty more coming thru the ranks, I expect to see Boston in the playoffs many times the next 5+ seasons, however since we have to award a goat we'll share the blame to the entire offense that managed just 6 hits, 2 walks in no runs in back to back home shutouts in games 1 & 2.

Pittsburgh over Little Rock (3-0)
Hero: Another quick series highlighted by Alex Pineda's pinch hit grandslam in the top of the 9th to send Pittsburgh to a series clinching 8-6 victory. Limited by low durability, Pineda made the most of his limited action, catching game 2's victory and the key pinch hit to send Little Rock packing.

Chump: If Pineda is your hero, then Jeremy Cintron is your resident chump. The left handed closer was entrusted with a 3 run lead in the top of the 9th. After retiring the first batter, Cintron gave up 3 straight singles, then nearly escaped with a strikeout of Lee for out number 2. However a walk of McPherson brought Pittsburgh to w/n 2 runs, then the pinch hit grand slam by Pineda sealed the deal.

The other side of the coin

2011-04-19T12:57:00.002-05:00

Going back to season 5, Salem was a budding franchise on the cusp of something special. The prior owners (3 over the first 3 seasons) had clearly acquired talent, but were also clearly tanking. By the time I got there in season 4, there was enough talent to challenge for a playoff appearance, but nearly enough pitching to get us over the top. Despite turning over a sizable portion of the major league talent to get the proper pieces in place, a top of the rotation ace was sorely lacking. After squeezing out a divsion title (despite just 84 wins) and a league championship appearance, Salem went on the hunt for a top shelf ace for season 5 and beyond.

Enter flytekk and the Florida Flytekks, a new owner to this world in season 5, a new owner to the game. Under the prior regime, Fly's new organization had been near the top of the world. Along with average 100+ wins each of the first four seasons, the organization brought home the big trophy in season 3. Fly found himself in the middle of a very solid organization with enough talent to compete right away. However, he had a clear mission in mind. He didn't want to ride the coat tails of the previous staff to a W-S title, he wanted to mold the organization his way. So off the trade market he went, peddling his wares for top shelf talent. Despite more than one brash statement, a handful of pissed off owners and several outrageous demands, Fly held tight to his guns when Salem came calling to incquire about the services of season 3 Cy Young and perinial all star ChadLamb. Salem had a couple of top level prospects worthy of a deal, but Fly in all his brashness was insisting on both CorbanWalters and StewartWells. Both bright young prospects with all multiple all star appearances all but assured.

The demands for Lamb were not only beyond absurd, they were fairly in line with several other deals that had crept thru the grapevine involving Fly and his first offseason. More than 1 owner vowed to never do a deal with him. Personally, I didn't care much either way, but when Fly mentioned that without both Walter and Wells, Lamb wasn't heading for the pacific northwest. Fine I said, told him I'll gladly trade either, but certainly not both should he change his mind. Thinking any deal was pretty much dead in the water, Salem had set its eyes elsewhere until a few days later, Fly relented and offered up a deal so perfect, I hadn't even thought of it. One that fit Salem's current needs so well, as well as Fly's long term goals that it couldn't be passed up. In addition to Lamb, Fly added postseason super star, GalahadDale in exchange for Walters, Wells and the contract of the solid and steady PTAbbott.

With the addition of Dale & Lamb, Salem's rotation was quickly in the running as league's best. Lamb would headline the Salem rotation to the next two world series championships. Dale, in addition to a career best 19 wins in season 6, was his typical postseason dominate self, going 4-1 over seasons 5 & 6, in addition to a 6-0 mark in season 7 helping guide Dover to a W-S, Dale's 4th ring in 5 seasons.

While the deal made perfect sense from a talent standpoint, there was more than one owner concerned that Fly was selling off his high end talent, and wouldn't even be around more than 1 or 2 seasons. Fly gladly claimed he was in it for the long run, and garunteed he'd be playoff bound in his 4th season at worst, and competing for a W-S quickly there after. Well Fly upped that mark by 3 seasons, making his first postseason in season 6 and hasn't missed the playoffs since, adding 4 division crowns in the meantime. Furthur more, when season 9 rolled around, Fly opened up the bank account to re-sign Lamb as he hit free agency, as well as the top pitching coach needed to ensure his services. From the original deal, PT Abbott was quickly flipped, while Wells and Walters are key cogs in their franchise. Now that Fly has won his first title, will number 2 be far behind?

As I look back on how this deal dramatically affected the fortunes of both teams, I'm left to wonder if this isn't one of the biggest deals made in this world. Not only did both teams come up winners in this deal, but both won big.

the "Next 10" series, part 5, corner infielders and power bats

2011-04-11T13:05:00.004-05:00

finally we've come to the spot we're we can throw defense out the window and grab the biggest, baddest bats under 26 that this world has to offer. As we approach the end, its my hope all of these guys get some consideration for the HoF. I'm sure the primarily defensive types will struggle to get in, as well as the middle relievers, but all of these guys should be multiple time all stars, if not pace setting record holders. We'll start the last 3 picks looking at 3b, where defense is certainly a consideration. ValRosario was signed out of the dominican as a SS, but has moved to CF for St louis. Frankly his defensive ratings would suggest he could handle any position on the diamond defensively outside of catcher, and would be a gold glover at all of them but SS & CF. We've decided to make him our 3b, where he may well be the most valuable position player in this world once you add his .850+ OPS bat to his defense. At 24, and only 4 seasons into his career (2+ in the majors) Val has already made the last 2 all star teams and shown up on the MVP ballots. While it may be a season or 2 too soon for legit MVP consideration, expect him to remain a fixture on the final ballots over the next decade. Moving across the diamond, we'll take a look at one of the sweetest swings in this world: JulianHall is still a season away from making the show, despite his multiple seasons w/ an OPS over 1.000, Hall will remain an elite hitter, despite power in the mid 70s. A switch hitter, Julian is equally effective on both sides of the plate and should settle out in the mid to upper 80s in contact, splits & batting eye. Finally, rounding out the roster, we'll add the biggest power threat in the world. Afterall, what kind of "next 10" team wouldn't include the guy most capable of knocking down all home run records? RaulCerda, in his second full season hit 47 long balls this season. Season 10's rookie of the year, Raul knocked out 36 long balls in 150 games with an OPS of 1.010. This left handed masher should have no trouble approaching 700 long balls by the time his career is over.

the "next 10" series, part 4: Middle of the Diamond

2011-04-06T15:39:00.003-05:00

Jumping from the defensive minded Catcher spot, we'll move across the diamond to the equally important defensive spots at SS and 2b, however, with no PC rating to worry about, we'll look for a little offense in these spots as we get near the completion of this "next 10" squad. NorbertoSantos leads us off at SS. Admittadly, he's a little more "Jeter" at SS than Omar Vizquel, but he's definently Barry Larkin at the plate. Even though NY has him playing primarly 3rd base, we'll slide him to SS and watch his bat shine. Santos made his first All star appearance in his rookie campaign of season 10, ending with 27 long balls, 93 rbi, and 97 rbi for the powerful Moose Knuckles lineup. Despite having a sophomore slump in season 10, he's still going to score voer 100 runs, hit mid 20+ homers, and drive in 70+ runs. Still showing slight signs of improvement at 23, Santos should continue on to a very solid .290/.375/.465 type career. Very solid numbers for any SS. If Santos is going to provide the offense at SS, we'll back him up w/ a premier young defensive SS in the league. When it comes to defense, HipolitoIglesias doesn't dissapoint. On top of that, he's carrying a .700+ OPS bat to compliment all that defense. He's certainly not going to crush any team offense numbers hitting around 12-15 homers a season while playing superb defense. Forming Santos' double play partner will be EugeneGarcia. Season 4's #4 overall pick, Garcia is favored to win his 1st gold glove this season, his first full season playing 2b. And if you think this is strictly a defense first, Garcia's .800+ ops bat has lead to three consecutive all star appearances, begining with his first full season in the bigs during season 9. A nice combination of a little bit of pop, and a good amount of speed (172 steals in 217 attempts) Garcia gives the added benefit of playing near gold glove level defense if needed in CF. Next in the series, we'll take a look at 3b, 1b and DH to round out the last 3 spots on the team.

"The Next 10" series, part 3, Catchers

2011-03-22T12:23:00.005-05:00

To paraphrase from young guns a bit, catchers must regulate any stealin' of their property. They're dame good, too, but you can't be any geek of the street, you've gotta be handy w/ the leather, if you know what I mean. Earn your keep. As mentioned earlier, its never been my intent to make a team of the best 3 & 4 hole hitters over the next decade, but rather to put a team together molding them into how I like to see a team operate. When it comes to catchers, you've got to handle the defense fist, then any bat will be a bonus.

LesBush a former end of the 1st round draft pick following Syracuse's title run. When you consider that the weakness in his defense is an arm accuracy that should land in the 75 range, its hard not to fall in love with his glove. However, even better is his left handed projections on his bat. True enough, he'll never have more than average power, however his contact, splits & eye should all land in the 65+ range, with his vR & eye approaching 80. And if that wasn't good enough, his conditioning is strong enough to put him behind the plate for 140+ games a season. If teams haven't already regretted passing on him in the draft, it won't take too many all star appearances to have them realize their mistakes.

VincentParra If I'm going to hold defense as a priority here, than how can I pass on the top defensive catcher currently in the show. He's got the 2nd best arm, 4th best arm accuracy & 2nd best pitch calling in the show, all at the ripe age of 25 and coming off a gold glove season to prove he knows how to put his skills into effect on the diamond. He'll never be confused with Johny Bench at the plate, but his .690 OPS is repectable enough given his superior defensive gifts.

While on a defensive parade, we'll jump across the diamond and look at SS & 2b next.

The "next 10" series, part 2: The Outfield.

2011-03-11T14:36:00.005-06:00

Ok, so we've got 12 pitchers, 5 starters, 7 relievers. Now we need 13 bats to compliment them. the pitching part was pretty straight forward, breaking it down to starters, long men, and short men. The bats become a little tougher. Like I mentioned early on, my goal isn't to just list the 13 best #3 hole hitters (not that we're going to be lacking for a prototypical #3 bat), but to blend a team to compliment both defense and offense. Defense up the middle, power at the corners. Perhaps a defensive specialist if he's going to be lights out, or an elite DH w/ no position to man but the bench. I'm going to go with 2 catchers, 6 infielders, & 5 outfielders for the next 13, but for sure, several of these guys would play adequate defense at several spots. So away we go with our selections in the outfield.

Did I mention defense? Every elite team needs an elite outfielder, and DelinoRodriquez more than fills that role. Elite range, plus a solid glove and arm, it won't be long before Delino brings home a gold glove for his work out there. Oh, and if you think that means he leaves the stick on the bench when he heads to the plate, you'd be wrong. Thru nearly 3 seasons worth of playing time, he's put up an .878 ops. Last season's 35 homer, 140 rbi effort brought home his first silver slugger. Despite the move to the pitching friendly Burlington, expect several more silver sluggers go come his way.

Now that we've got the middle manned, we're going to need some thunder. Welcome to the team ClydeValent and his 99 rated power. Clyde may be just "average" in LF, but his 197 homers at the age of 25 leaves little doubt that should he stay healthy, he's going to bust thru the home run record one day.

AlexBaker is the next OF to join the team. An elite left handed outfield who's already made 3 all star teams as well as picking up last seasons Gold glove in RF. At 25, Baker is embarking on perhaps his finest season yet, taking 17 homers and 71 rbi into the all star break, a .332 average and a .600+ slugging average.

One quick look at Baker's skills tells you he's going to need some help vs lefties, at least as far as an all next decade team goes. The outfield is getting a little "too left handed", so when looking for a righty, we came up with an even better switch hitter to add to this all star collection. RicardoEstrada, season 7's top draft pick knocked out 26 homers with 96 rbi in his rookie campaign last year. Not one to rest on his success, Ricardo is aiming to top his numbers this season, having all ready knocked out 24 long balls and 59 rbi as we approach the all star break. At 23, Ricardo has 15 strong seasons sitting in his tank expected to end in a HOF election.

Finally, we turn to KenBorchard for our final OF spot. Season's 9's rookie of the year, Ken has crossed the plate 100+ teams in each of his two full seasons, and is well on his way to matching last seasons total of 140 by scoring 84 runs as we approach the all star break. Every team needs a table setter, and Ken's 98 batting eye and 83 contact to go with his 85 speed means he's going to get on base at an exceptionally high clip thruout his career.

Next we'll take a look at the middle of the infield, Catchers, shortstops & 2nd basemen.

The "next 10" part 1

2011-02-24T12:30:00.006-06:00

On the heels of zhawks fine writeup for the all decade team celebrating Ripken, Jr's adventures thru the first 10 years, I present to you my "next 10" team. Simply put, its a team of players, all 26 or young, all in AA or higher, with at least a couple of years of minor league development to guide me in predicting their future, that I think will lead represent Ripken, Jr as the "best of the best" over its 2nd decade. What its not is a selection of the 25 guys most likely to hit in the 3 hole, or start game 1 of the WS. While those high standards are certainly well placed, my goal is to prevent a more diverse team that will have guys hitting in positions that make sense w/n the batting order, reward some for outstanding defense at key defensive positions, and basically attempt to cover all bases. Certainly there will be more top sluggers than you can shake a stick out, but hopefully there's a handful of guys that you'd be happy hitting in the 8 hole while providing gold glove defense, or acting as a long A bridge when the starter gets pulled early.

So w/o further ado lets start with the pitchers, more specifically the starting rotation. Despite my diatribe above, there are no specialist here. I may miss a name or two thru this process, I may favor one guy over your guy, but no doubt, anyone should be proud to send any of these 5 to the mound in a key game.

TrevorDouglass This list will spend a of time visiting Las Vegas, and as you'll soon discover, saintonan has discovered more ripe talent than Spearmint Rhino. Trevor was the 3rd overall pick back in season 4 and despite a freak injury in season 9, has already accumulated 51 wins. Douglass is the rare bread of right handers that are even more dominate verse lefties. Sporting a Adam Wainwrightesque 12-6 curveball, along with a solid fastball and slider, Douglass has buckled his share of knees. On top of everything, as if his stuff wasn't good enough, his stamina/durability combo of 94/28 may well be the strongest of any legitimate starter in this world.

MaglioBennett $23 mil is all it took to bring this ace off the islands and into the Saint Louis fold. Bennett has one of the most devistating fastballs in all of Ripken, complianted by an additional 4 averate to above average pitches that makes him tough to hit. Sit on his fastball and he'll dazzle you w/ breaking stuff. Look for something with some bend, and the fastball blows by you before you can blink. Despite being just 23, Magglio has already spend 2+ full seasons in the bigs, accumulating 33 wins. As the team builds up around him, expect to see Magglio as a fixture in the All star game.

JulianChavez Back to Las Vegas for our #3. An absolute steal in season 8 for just $14.2 mil, Julian makes up for a lack of stamina with solid control, great splits, great sink and 3 top shelf pitches to go along with a solid enough Circle Change as a 4th option. Julian made his debut a few games into season 10 last year, and managed to pick up 11 wins in his rookie campaign.

CorbanWalters One of the key pieces in the huge Lamb-Dale trade to Salem, Corban has produced rewards in spades for Florida/Austin. The first pick in the season 4 draft, has amassed 68 wins with a 2.8 k/bb ratio and a career 1.28 WHIP. Great control, splits, veolocity, and sink on 4 solid pitches plus a show me curveball lead to Corban's first all star selection last year.

KarlSanders While Karl possesses just average ML splits, he more than makes up for it in control, zip, and pitch selection. A season 9 all star, Karl has already won 15 games and 19 games in seperate seasons. A 1.20 whip and mid 3.00 era are signs that this 24 year old is going to be headlining games for years to come.

Next, we'll look at long relievers. All of these guys have the stuff to be #1s or #2 on the ML level, however each lacks the stamina to routinely go deep into games. Surely some teams will temp fate trying to shorten innings and squeeze as much rest b/w games, but either way, each would be able to push 150+ innings out of the pen, or out of the starting rotation.

LouGrieve there is little doubt that Lou has some of the best stuff in Ripken. Unfortunetly, he'll struggle to get past 5 innings during any start. However, his first go at it in Burlington is going as well as expected, 6 up, 1 down over 52 innings in 9 starts. Prior to this season, he was the heart of Fresno's championship bullpen, dominating thru 2 WS runs, including last season's championship. Lou is likely this generation's Pablo Bonilla, if someone is willing to push him to 180+ innings a year out of the pen, a cy young nomination is w/n reach.

VirgilVazquez Our first venture into minors brings us another Lou Grieve type. Its yet to be determined if Virgil has the stamina to ever start in the show, but 60 minor league games have seen him sport a tidy 0.98 whip and a 5.0+ k/bb ratio. The key piece in the Keith Bagwell deal this offseason, Virgil profiles to a ++ slider, two + pitches, and an average change up. Topping out near 100 mph, Virgil has the command to paint both corners and should prove an assist as Pablo Bonilla's career begins to wind down.

TrenidadFernandez Did I mention that Las Vegas is loaded? Another guy with dominat stuff, but questionable stamina. Trenidad has dominated 3 levels of minor league baseball, dominating AAA hitters as I write. A near 1.00 whip and 3.0+ k/bb ratio profiles this lefties future dominace in the majors. A dominating fastball, to go along with a ++ change and average breaking stuff should eat up oppossing hitters once he reaches the show.

Short Relievers: These are the guys who shouldn't ever top 100 innings any season, but should be dominate in key situations late in the game. The world appears to be a little shy of young top end, late game situation, but these four are worthy of making any team.

AlexFlores durability and health are a key factor in Pittsburgh's top setup man's future. Possessing near perfect control of both sides of the plate with a fastball topping out in the upper 90s, Flores has been a stellar pickup for Pittsburgh this offseason. The 26 year old is coming into his own, sporting a 0.80 WHIP and Sub 2.00 era in 25 appearances so far. Flores compliments his killer 4 seamer w/ 3 additional average to above average pitches. As long as he stays healthy, get ready to turn the lights out when he takes the mound.

OmarFranco lets stay in Pittsburgh and add dominate righty Franco. A true one inning specialists, Franco can often go back to back nights, featuring precision control on a ++ fastball and changeup combo. Franco was able to convert 42/48 saves back in season 9 before moving from the 9th to a setup role in season 10. The transition has taken well to Franco as he's allowed only 4 hits and no runs this season.

EduardoGalarraga is still sporting his WS bling from last season's run in Fresno. Over the last two postseasons, Galarrag has allowed only 1 run and 2 hits over 8 apperances. Unfortunetly, Eddie, ain't exactly an "everyday" man, and will strain to reach 50 innings most seasons. With a WHIP slightly above 1.10 the last two years, Eddie makes each appearance count pounding the bottom of the strike zone with a league tops sinker, devestating slider, and above average change up.

ButchOmalley If Franco had to move out of the closer role, then the guy who took over must be pretty good, right? Well let me present Pittsburgh 3rd musketeer of the pen, Buth O'Malley, a season 10 all star rep and a perfect 20/20 in save opportunities this season. The 4th year pro is still polishing up his skill set, but features a 12-6 curve and a fastball coming in just behind Aroldis Chapman in velocity.

Knockin' down the door to 500

2011-02-18T15:46:00.002-06:00

500 long balls has long been THE standard for hall of famer sluggers. You knock 500 of them offerings over the outfield fences, and you get your plaque hung in Cooperstown. 500 long balls in HBD doesn't hold quite the same prestige, but its not too far behind. In a world as young as Ripken, JR, 500 homers is definently a spectacular feat. Even during the steriod era prior to season 6 or 7, that's still 50 homers a season over 10 years, just to get there. That my friends is nothing to sneeze at. Rather uncermoniously, AchillesCohen bashed thru that door just last season. the 30 year old OF was just approaching his prime as Ripken, Jr was created, and he's used the last 10 years to ensure he'll be sitting pretty atop the all time homer list when it comes time to induct him into our Hall. In fact, even more impressive, Cohen spent season 1 in the minors, meaning that his 500th homer came in his 9th ML season. Despite his struggles to make solid contact each at bat, he's always been a key rbi guy, having hit 39 or more homers each season, save his first where he "struggled to hit 34 in 143 ML games.

While Cohen sits alone on the 500 homer platue, he's about to get some company. Similar to Achilles, BillWeaver sat out much of spent much of season 1 in the minors, gettng a late season call up. Weaver arrived in the showing hitting the ball all over the park, and has yet to stop. Sporting a .311/.401/.617 career line, Weaver has been one of, if not the finest hitter this world has seen. Weaver entered the season in 2nd place on the career homer list at 468, and seems intent to chase down Cohen for the all time lead. Despite the young season, Weaver has already knocked out 18 long balls as he aims to bring home his 3rd MVP award. With 486 homers total, look for Weaver to hit #500 sometime before the all star break.

Syracuse 1b AndyClayton hopes to join Weaver & Cohen on the 500 homer list this season, and appears to be in range of that glorious target. The 8 time all star entered season 11 with 456 long balls, just 44 shy of the 500 mark. Considering that he's topped 42 homers every season but 1 since his full season debut, 44 certainly appears to be range. Despite a solid shot, the fences have contained more of Clayton's hits this season than in season past, limiting to just 5 long balls on the short season. However, noticing that he continues to rope line drives, expect Clayton to pick up the pace and threaten the 500 mark as the season winds down and Syracuse gears up for another penant chase.

The quest for 200 wins, who you got?

2011-02-04T13:35:00.003-06:00

For the first time (and certainly not the last) the 200 career wins mark should be eclipsed, not once, but twice (and perhaps even a third time if things break right for Pat Politte). Oscar Baumann and Jesus Fernandez can tie them selves together by reaching this magical HBD mark (keep in mind its significantly tougher to win 300 games in HBD than it is in real life). Considerring that both were in their prime (Baumann was 24, Jesus would have been 27) when the world started, its quite possible that both could have been going for win #250 if this world had been created a few years earlier.

OscarBaumann has been a fixture at the mid-summer classic, having been selected each of his first 9 seasons before finally hanging up the "gone fishin" sign last season. Traded to the early Mexico City/Jacksonville dynasties, then later to the Montreal/Syracuse dynasty, Oscar picked up 4 Cy Young awards, a perfect game, and finally a world series ring with Syracuse in season 8. Blessed with pinpoint control, and blazing fastball and 3 solid secondary pitches, Oscar's most overlooked feature was his ability to bounce back quickly. Though his all out approach often left him drained by the 7th inning, Oscar was able to bounce back on short rest. Despite on 15 complete games, he managed to make 39 - 40 starts 6 times.

JesusFernandez while 3 years older, has also been a main stay at the mid summer classic having made 6 trips over the course of his career. Jesus & Oscar shared dugouts for 3 seasons during the Mexico City/Jacksonville dynasty, before Jesus was shipped back to his orginal franchise once they established roots in Salem. Jesus has thrown 1 no hitter, picked up the Cy Young in season 8, and has two World Series rings to show for his time in Salem. Having grown up without the ability to dazzle radar guns, Jesus learned the miracle of location, location, location, inducing opponents into weak grounders and pop ups on a league best sinker, a plus slider, and 3 solid secondary pitches. Having learned the secrets of P90X before it went commercial, Jesus often went deep into games, having completed 85 of his 347 starts (24%)

Regular season stats:

Baumann: 195-76, .207 OAV, 1.03 WHIP, 2.57 era, 3.66 k/bb ratio.
Fernandez: 190-95, .245 OAV, 1.20 WHIP, 3.32 era, 2.61 k/bb ratio.

Postseason stats:

Baumann: 21 G (20 starts) 7-6, 0 CG, .253 OAV, 1.27 WHIP, 3.95 era
Fernandez: 25 G (24 starts) 8-10, 3 CG, .242 OAV, 1.20 WHIP, 2.79 era

As each man approaches 200 wins, its clear that their best days are behind. Jesus' lone complete game and first ever trip to the DL is an indication that he's not quite the bullpen saver that he used to be. Meanwhile, Baumann's stamina has fallen hard enough that many are begining to question if he needs to make the transition to reliever this year. However, no matter the inning, both remain feared arms each time they take the bump, and leave us wondering how much longer till their enshrinement in Cooperstown. A poll was going to be added to see which pitcher this world would prefer over the course of their careers, however no matter how you slice the numbers, Baumann proves the clear cut answer. Fernandez may be as great in the 8th as he is in the 2nd, but only Baumann's wife is disspointed with his stamina limitations.

Coming next: Andy Clayton & Bill Weaver's quest to join Achilles Cohen on the 500 homer list.

Free Agency Recap

2011-01-31T21:56:00.000-06:00

For the third season in a row we've seen a max contract offered and accepted in the Free Agency Market. First it was the trio of future Hall of Fame pitchers. Oscar Baumann, Pat Politte and Chad Lamb. Last season it was super star 2nd basemen and another future Hall of Fame player in Ed Donovan. This year...

It was 26 year old Jerry Hayes, fresh off of a 10-7 season with a 3.82 ERA, easily his best season, but worth $110 million over 5 years? Opinions have differed throughout the year, GM KPMcClave of the Rochester Polaroids noted that "with pitching being a premium, it isn't surprising that a quality young pitcher would get an attractive comment." While the Las Vegas Slots GM, saintonan commented that "having the 186th best pitcher in the league get a max deal seemed very odd. Understanding that this was a weak year for FA Starters, but is it really law that someone will get a max deal every season?"

After listening to the criticism Hayes shot back before his first start for the Burlington Part-Timers in spring training,"I really don't care what they have to say about me. I'm here to pitch. I've already got the season opener penned in, I can't wait to beat Oscar."

When asked specifically about the comments coming from Las Vegas all Hayes had to say was,"They're lucky they don't have to see me during the regular season, but I can't wait to end their post season early."

Hayes agent, Rex Brantley, had only a few words to reporters after the press conference,"we took the best offer we got, period."

While Hayes was clearly the top story of the winter, there were quite a few other active teams.

Wichita Black Lightning GM zhawks made it known early that he had money to spend and make the best use of it that they could.

"We were really locked in on Hayes and Greg Walker, but we couldn't land either," zhawks stated at the preseason press conference,"late in the Free Agency period we took a long look at where we were and decided to make a late offer to Corey (Witt), which was immediately accepted and held on to bring in (Jimmie) Lugo who will be playing center field for us this year."

Additionally the Lightning signed gold glove shortstop Diego Johnson who will be play third for the team, vastly improving their overall defense.

"We really wanted to increase our pitching, it has hurt us in the past," commented bench coach Heinie Hines,"when that fell through we decided we could indirectly increase our pitching by improving our defense and I feel we really improved our defense with our signings."

Elsewhere in the AL the Syracuse Tyrants were quite but effective in free agency, adding lefty starter Walker, who is arguably the best pitcher in FA.

When asked about the signing Syracuse GM intern_hc said,"we've lost some good pitching the last few years, we wanted to reload without spending a fortune. We accomplished that."

Walker is a career 4.27 ERA while being 93-89.

Vic Sosa was the top position player on the market and commanded exactly what was expected.

Rochester Polaroids GM KPMcClave was not afraid to spend the money saying "We considered using our entire budget to grab both Lugo and Sosa but decided to improve our pitching and land one of them. We went with Sosa due to age."

Another team that was active, but didn't land any big namers was the Austin Stunners, they signed LF Jason Levine, for what many agreed was an excessive contract, GM flytekk shot back "We weren't spending the money anywhere else and were set on improving our offense."

Little Rock Jaeger Bombs GM timo1964 reacquired two former players he had as former GM in Little Rock before the team moved to Charlotte in Damaso Peron and Bruce Gibbons. Both players add a new dimension to the Little Rock squad and should have the Jager Bombers in the post season soon.

While the Salem Witch Doctors were more active on the trade market than the Free Agent market they did make a few acquisitions. They signed a few relief pitchers in Floyd Reichert and Scott Rolls. Neither is expected to be a lights out relief man but both should bolster the bullpen of another strong Salem team. GM taz21 agreed saying, "we were not looking to spend on a big contract just improve our pitching. We didn't over extend ourselves but made a few good signings that should help us throughout the year."

While Hayes was clearly the story of the winter there was a lot of movement on the free agent market, Wichita once again spent big bucks hoping to finally bring home a title, while other teams made cost efficient moves that fit their budgets.

The Geriatric Times?

2010-11-05T13:30:00.001-05:00

There's little doubt that OscarBaumann & JesusFernandez are two of the top pitchers this world has seen, if not the two best aces for the first 10 seasons of Ripken, Jr. Like sands thru an hour glass, time is starting to pass these two by, however each is due a hefty salary over the next 4 - 5 seasons before either can think of heading off to their golden years.

At his peak, Baumann was blessed with pinpoint control, wicked heat, nasty splits, but only 1 ++ pitch and 3 average to above average pitches. This was certainly enough to headline any rotation, but perhaps the key to his success was his ability to constantly work on short rest, allowing more starts per season than your average ace. While offseason elbow surgery following season 7 robbed Oscar of a good chunk of his zip on his fastball and a little bit of stuff off each pitch, he still commanded top dollar in the free agent bonaza on season 9 where Witchita signed Oscar up for a 5 year, $130 mil deal, including a $10 mil bonus. Oscar's 94 make-up rating would indicate a guy that should retain his skill set as he ages well better than most, however Wichita has hired Dr Kevorkian's brother as their team trainer, taking their buget from 15 in season 8, down to 11 in season 9 (Oscar's first w/ the team) and now standing at 10 this season. Just this past offseason, Oscar saw further corrosion of his fastball, a small loss in some of his pitches, and most importantly, another decent drop in his stamina that threatens to turn him into a 6 inning pitcher before too long. With the further decrease in training, similar drops could be expect this offseason, but make no mistake, when Oscar's on the mound he's still amongst the leagues best. Oscar is still only 33, so he shouldn't hit a sharp drop off outside of another serious injury, but unless the training buget gets back to a more acceptable level, he may be forced into long relief by the last year of his deal.

Meanwhile, the 36 year old Jesus Fernandez was set on a more reasonable contract the 3 years prior, but rather than agree to his initial demands, Jesus decided to get greedy and claim his initial demands were no longer good enough and headed to free agency. More money for Jesus, bad for Salem's buget. Salem decided to take the plunge, fight off at least one other suited and signed Jesus up to a 5 year, back ended deal that will see him garnering $18.3 mil during his age age 39 & age 40 seasons. Even at his peak, Jesus never relied much on heat, ranking towards the bottom of the world in velocity, however he more than made up for it with pin point control, a nasty sinker a + slider, and 3 more average to above average splits. It seems that velocity and stamina are the first 2 skills to seriously erode as one ages, however Jesus's doesn't have much room to fall with his fastball, and his stamina remains near 90 in his age 36 season, though it dropped from 94 last offseason due in part to Salem's lowering of the training buget in season 10 (down to 10) Careful of the impact of such a low training buget w/ an aging team, team owner quickly put more resources in training, and expec to raise it even further, eventually up to 20 before Jesus' contract is up.

so the question becomes, in the last couple of years of their respective deals, how overpaid will these two aces be? Please vote in the poll to let us know.

Heros & Goats, round 3, Season 9

2010-10-01T12:11:00.003-05:00

Salem over Wichita (4-1)
Hero: Patrick Watson. After begining the series slow (1-8 w/ 1 rbi in games 1 & 2), Watson exploded and lead the charge as Salem's offense finally showed some life. While pitching and defense carried the day in the prior series and first 2 games of this set, a couple of hitting duels broke out in games 3 & 5 and Watson was right in the mix. In addition to a P.O.D. in game #3, Watson's last 3 games in this series had him slurping 7 hits in 11 at bats, 3 walks, 5 runs and 3 rbi to help Salem close out Wichita and capture their third AL penant in the last 5 seasons.

Goat: Oscar Baumann. Oscar's $110 mil contract this offseason reflects his strangle hold on world Ripken Jr the last 8 seasons. 4 Cy Young awards, and 8 all star selections reflect just how dominate he's been the first 8 seasons of this worlds existance. however, perhaps his failure to make the all-star game was the first sign that his star is starting to slip, however a late season surge towards another Cy Young nomination earsed those fears until the playoffs begun. Oscar made it thru the 1st series with 2 short stints, but little damage. He showed signs of wear in the 2nd round, but pitched a solid 7 innings in the game 4 clincher vs Trenton. However, the postseason wear took an even further tole when he allowed 5 earned runs in a mear 5 innings in a game 5 lose, followed up by a shorter than you'd like 6 innings out of the Wichita Ace in the deciding game 5. While he only gave up 3 runs thru those 6 innings, qualifing for a quality start, his short stint turned things over to the soft underbelly of the Wichita bullpen where promptly allowed 4 runs to the Salem offense and saw their season come to an abrupt halt. Rumors have Baumann training at the Roger Clemons school for the aging vet with the cream and the clear this offseason. If similar results are produced, expect a few more Cy Young awards out of Oscar.

Fresno over Austin (4-2)
Hero: Tim Kinney. In a classic back and forth series, Kinney provided enough highlight material to fill a complete 30 minute SI team video next offseason. There was the back to back homers with Fultz in a game 1 victory to push Fresno's lead out to 5, There was another 3rd inning solo shot in game 3 to push the first run across the board as Fresno re-gained the series edge. Finally a solo shot to score the first run in the 6th to open things up in the pivotal game 5, as well as a 3 run shot to turn out the lights in the 9th inning. All that was left was for Fresno to seal off game 6 and move to the W-S where Kinney gets another shot to prove his postseason wares. In his first postseason trip in 7 previous major league season, this 32 year old is getting a chance to show his talents on the big stage, perhaps another all star trip will come along with it next year.

Goat: Chris Lyons. Austin's all star right fielder had his best season of his prestigous career. 150 rbi, 37 homers, 205 hits and 139 runs pushed him into elite territory. However, he managed just 3 hits and 3 rbi in the series vs Austin. In a series played as tightly as this series, Lyon's lack of offensive production really hindered their chances of making the big show. Look for Austin to return even stronger next year with the combination of great vets and emerging youth.

Heros & Goats, round 2, season 9

2010-09-28T11:54:00.002-05:00

Salem over Tampa (3-1)
Hero: Alex Gomez. After sitting out the 1st game loss while coach Taz21 was trying to "play the matchups" and left his leadoff hitter on the bench in favor of a righty to face Tampa's slew of left handed starters, the Salem message boards light up with enough flames to keep downtown Salem a glow till the next morning. Hearing the critics, coach wised up and got Gomez back into left field and back into the lineup where he responded by hitting .455 over the next 3 nights, not to mention his standard gold glove defense in left.
Goat: Achilles Cohen. Tampa's MVP canidate had a series he'd like to forget. Just 2 hits in 16 at bats. Post season struggles are nothing new to this budding star, as heel injuries each of the last 2 postseason have held him well short of regular season accolades. From a .280+ batting average and over 100 regular season home runs, to just 8 hits (in 43 at bats) and single homer the last 2 postseasons.

Wichita over Trenton (3-1)
Hero: Bruce Gibbons. Bruce scored 7 runs, piked up 6 hits (6/15-.400), drove in 5, walked 4 times and stole 3 bases to pace Wichita's offense in an easier than expect 3-1 series win over Trenton
Goat: Kris Jackson. Another middle of the order DH struggling to pace his team's offense when it matters most. This season's 2-15 showing w/ only 1 rbi follows last year's equally brutal 2-11 showing with no rbi. Jackson will enter next year looking for a new contract for season 11 and hopes to move past the last 2 postseason failures and put up something more along the lines of season 7 where he knocked out 6 long balls to go w/ 20 rbi in 14 games.

Fresno over Honolulu (3-1)
Hero: Ricky Brock. Ricky don't lose that number, didn't hit many, but he certainly made his hits count. Trailing 1 game to none, and down 4-5 in the 8th inning of game 2, Ricky hit a 2 run jack to flip the game and tie the series. 2 nights later in game #3, again trailing by a run (1-0) in the 9th, Ricky found himself at the plate w/ the bases juiced and slashed a line drive to left field to knock in 2 runs, take the lead and send Fresno to a 2 games to 1 lead.
Goat: Honolulu pitching after the 5th inning. They had a lead in all 3 games at some point after the 5th, only to see each lead flipped in a single inning (including allowing 5 runs in a 4-0 game in the 6th inning of game 4) to seal their fate. Dick Hoover is left to continue dreaming of a World Series ring.

Austin over Dover (3-1)
Hero: Stewart Wells. Austin's silver slugging CF paced their offense by hitting .414 over their arch nemisis, including 4 rbi and 5 runs.
Goat: Tony Brown. After Dover fell behind 1 game to none, they took a 6-4 lead to the 9th of game 2. 2 walks and an error later and the bases are full of Stunners. 1 pitch later, Pineda deposits a ball over the LF fence. Game over, series over. Dover would come back to win in game 3, but by that point their pitching was so worn out that they allowed 13 runs in the deciding game 4 in an otherwise heartless performance.

Season 9, Heros & Goats

2010-09-27T14:02:00.002-05:00

Better late than never, short but sweet...

round 1
Tampa over Syracuse (3-1)
Hero: Hard to pick any 1 hero for Tampa, very much a team effort game to game, but we'll go w/ Walter Russel for his 7.2 innings of 2 run baseball in game 2. After getting shellacked (sp?) in game 1 11-2, Russell put the hammer down for 7 innings, allowing only 1 hit before giving up a wall grazing 2 run homer with his team ahead 3 runs. The bullpen cleared up the rest and Tampa never looked back taking the remaining 2 games in the series.

Goat: Harpo Norton. Harpo wasn't the biggest problem w/ the defending W-S champs, just the biggest definition in their miserable blowouts in the last 2 games. In 2 appearances, spanning 1.2 innings, Harpo gave up 6 hits, 2 homers and 7 runs to end any conversation of Syracuse making a run towards a repeat. However, and even bigger crime is Norton's mama insistance on naming her son after her favorite talk show host on opposite day.

Wichita over New York (3-1)
Hero: Another team series win for Wichita, so we'll give the award to Jolbert Mesies. He may not have collected many hits, or manned the plate behind dominate pitching, but he made his hits counts, highlighted by the 2 run homer to cap off an epic 11 inning game 1 victory in his only at bat as well as the 2 run homer to turn a 1-0 New York lead, into a 2-1 Wichita lead they would never relinquish in the deciding game 5.
Goat: Ted Lush produced nearly every time he was called upon during the regular season, however when the playoff bell went off, lush apparently slept in. 3 hits and 0 rbi from the heart of New York'order has New Yorkers screaming louder than A'Rod's early postseason struggles.

Honolulu over Pittsburgh (3-1)
Hero: Anthony Post. Post rebounded from a dissapointing 2 inning start in a game 1 loss to Pittsburgh, however he rebounded strong w/ 9 innings of 2 hit ball in the deciding game 4 (a 3-0 Honolulu victory).
Goat: Omar Franco. sometimes you only get 1 shot at glory, and sometimes its thrown in your face. In his only appearance, with Pittsburgh holding a 1-0 lead in the series following a long extra innings affair in game 1, Franco was given the pill with a 1 run lead and a chance to go up 2-0. Franco's first pitch cleared the wall off of pinch hitter Fernando Manzinillo allowing honolulu to steal the game in extras, and never look back.

Dover over Charlotte (3-2)
Hero: Scott Tankersly. In a series where 5 seemed to be the magic number, might as well pick a guy w/ 5 rbi in the series, not to mention 3 homers, including a key 2 run homer in game 2 and a solo shot in game 5 to give Dover the lead.
Goat: Fausto James. At least he was consistant. 6.1 innings of 5 run (4 earned) followed up by 6.0 innings of 5 runs (4 earned) allowing 7 & 8 hits repectively.

The Chase for 20 wins.

2010-09-07T12:00:00.003-05:00

As a still relative young kid living in SW Ohio, with the home team only 1 season away from a world series title, the Reds went out and made 2 big pitching moves in the offseason, acquiring Tim Belcher from the Dodgers and Greg Swindell from the Indians. Swindel had lost 16 games the prior season for the craptastic Mistakes by the Lakes, but sported a tidy 3.40ish era along w/ a fantastic 5.1 k/BB ratio. He was basically all the Indians had at that point, just prior to the emergence of Visquel, Manny, Belle, etc... and had won 18, 13 & 12 wins in the 3 years prior. Meanwhile Tim Belcher had a sub 3.00 era in 4 of his 5 prior major league seasons, winning as many 15 games just a few years prior to joining the Reds. These 2 top shelf pitcher were set to join "Mr Perfect" Tom Browning who had won 18 & 15 games the 2 seasons prior and Jose Rijo who had won 14 & 15 wins the 2 prior seasons, and may be the only player to have recieved a Hall of fame vote prior to officially ending his major league career when he returned to the reds in the early 2000s following 5+ seasons of injury/inactivity.

The thought was real that any of these 4 could post 20 wins for the Reds that season, and perhaps the dream of dreams that all 4 would reach the magical 20 win mark. Sure the Reds had to give up this fan's favorite Red, Eric Davis, to acquire Tim Belcher, but they gave up little to nothing for Swindell, and still returned Barry Larkin, Paul O'neill, Spuds Sabo and a dominant back of the bullpen. Sure this boy's dream of (4) 20-win pitcher fell short, but aside from Tom Browning's horrific broken elbow while throwing a screw ball mid-game, the other 3 went on to post 15, 15 & 12 wins a piece.

Fast forward 18 years, and toss in a handful of fake players in cybe space, and the Salem Witch Doctors have the possiblity of taking (4) 20 game winners to the postseason. The Salem staff is balanced by the big 4 of Jesus_Fernandez, Sandy_Murphy, Bronson_Brown, and Keith_Bagwell. Sandy Murphy has set the pace to date, picking up his 17th win this afternoon, while the remaining 4 all have staked 15 wins so far vs 8, 4 & 2 losses respectively. Salem has 41 games remaining, as well as 2 off days, which will allow for some shuffling of the rotation and provide each of these 4 pitchers with 8 to 9 starts should they remain injury free. Additionally, Jesus, Sandy & Bronson are all high durability/stamina pitchers which will allow them to pitch on short rest if needed and a shot at 10, perhaps even 11 starts. Only Keith Bagwell will have trouble getting by on short rest too often, 10 starts will likely be the absolute top number of starts he could make, more likely he'll get 9 more, and perhaps makes him the longest shot at obtaining the 20 win mark.

Offensively, they're going to need at least 1 run, and likely several more a game if they want to reach the 20 win mark. so far, only DH Stan Arnold has shown any signs of fatigue, but a few others are probably getting close to the 99 mark. A few off days will need to be mixed in amongst the position players, but with a 1st round bye likely for the playoffs, there shouldn't be any "sunday specials" thrown out there. Additionally, the schedule is favorable with 4 series remaining vs likely playoff teams, and 8 series vs teams likely to miss the playoffs.

A Decade of Brilliance

2010-08-30T23:14:00.008-05:00

With Ripken Jr closing in on its 10 year anniversary, it is only fitting to acknowledge those players that have made the first decade memorable. While there have been many ups and downs throughout the years, Ripken Jr has always produced competitive seasons and teams, year in and year out.

Today we will be releasing the first Ripken Jr Decade team. This team consists of the very best players in the league throughout this first decade and honors them for their contribution to this great world. During the Winter Meetings we will honor the Franchise of the Decade.

Without further delay, let us unveil the team!

The obvious choice for the Ace of the team was 9 time All-Star and 4 time Cy Young winner - Oscar Baumann. Baumann is the career wins leader with 179 and has a sparkling career ERA of 2.42. Baumann is also the career strikeout leader with 2174 k's in his career. While there may be other pitchers who have the talent that Baumann has there is no doubt that he has outperformed every other pitcher throughout his career. Baumann has won one World Championship and has started 14 postseason games. He is 6-4 with a 3.83 ERA and 93 strikeouts in 89.1 innings.

The second starter on the Decades team is 8 time All-Star and 2 time Cy Young winner, lefty Pat Politte. Polite is currently third on the career wins list with 159 and is the top lefty in the game. Politte is one of the few pitchers who have a chance to break some of Baumann's records once he decides to hang it up. Politte is one of the best postseason pitchers in the game. He has started 24 games and is 15-5 with 135 strikeouts and a 3.38 ERA in 160 postseason innings, recording a single complete game.

In the third slot is 5 time All-Star and Cy Young winner,Chad Lamb. Lamb is one of the youngest studs in the game and already is fifth on the all-time wins list with 144. He has a career ERA of 3.08 and has won three World Series Rings. Lamb rivals Politte in the postseason. He has 16 postseason wins to go along with 12 losses and a 3.82 ERA. Lamb has started 31 postseason games and has pitched 195.2 innings.

Fourth in the rotation is Torey Fernandez. Torey is an 8 time All-Star and a Cy Young winner. Fernandez is the youngest starting pitcher on the team and the future looks bright for him. At 28 Torey is fourth on the wins list with 154 and has a career ERA of 3.85, which should only continue to drop as he continues to develop. Fernandez has pitched in 25 postseason games and for two World Champions. He is 10-7 with a 4.29 ERA in 151 innings.

Rounding out the Starting Rotation is six time All-Star and yet another Cy Young winner, Jesus Fernandez;. Fernandez has been a workhorse his entire career and this rotation would not be complete without him in it. Even at age 35 he still continues to baffle hitters and put up amazing numbers. Jesus is second on the All-Time wins list with 168. At his age it doesn't appear he will be able to catch Baumann but 200 wins is easily within his reach. His career ERA is 3.35 and he has the most mileage on him in the league with 2,254 innings. Fernandez has pitched in 19 postseason games and started 18. He has also won a World Championship. Fernandez is 6-7 with 2 complete games. He has a glistening 3.13 ERA in 135 innings of work.

Of course you can't win games without anyone to relieve these guys, so let's take a look at the decade's relievers. The long relief pitchers are all current starters who may have failed to make the rotation but deserved to be on the team.

The top Long Reliever is two time Cy Young winner and 5 time All-Star - Julio Santiago. It was a very tough decision to not put him in the rotation, but there was never a doubt that he belonged on the team. Santiago is fourth on the All-Time ERA list, with a career ERA of 2.68 to go along with his 134 wins and sits third with a career WHIP of 1.08. Santiago also has a career 183 Quality Starts, which is good for fourth place all time. Santiago has started 9 postseason games and is 3-4 with a 4.14 ERA in 54.1 innings of work.

Second out of the bullpen is lefty hurler Rod Young. Young has a career 107 wins and an ERA of 2.60 which is second All-Time, despite having a .59 Groundball to Flyball Ratio, which is good for third worst All-Time. Young is a 4 time All-Star and has a Cy Young to his name. Rod Young has not pitched in the postseason.

Rounding out the Long Relief is Sandy Murphy. Murphy has a career 130 wins and 3.06 ERA. He is a 3 time All-Star but has yet to win a Cy Young. Murphy has started 265 career games and is 131-72 with a career 3.05 ERA and 1366 strikeouts. Murphy has pitched in 16 postseason games, starting 15. He is 4-5 and has completed 2 games with a 3.12 ERA.

No team is complete without the back of the bullpen, responsible for closing out every win. These next set of guys have shown throughout their career, and especially this last decade, to be the best at maintaining a lead late in the game.

First the three setup men, all either currently are or have been closers for their respective teams throughout their careers. Lefty Harold Blake leads the way. He has recorded 293 saves in his career, which is good for first place all time. Blake and his 3.17 ERA passed Thurman Wright earlier this season on the All-Time Saves list. Blake has pitched in 20 postseason games and is 14 for 15 in save opportunities with a 4.00 ERA in 18 innings of work. Wright, who has 288 career Saves is another member of the decades team. He has a career 3.75 ERA and has struck out 402 career batters. Wright has pitched in 21 postseason games and is 11 for 13 in save opportunities with a 5.50 ERA. Last is Danny Brinkley, who is one of the younger members on the team and is largely helped out by 3 of his last 4 years. Brinkley recorded an incredible 1.28 ERA just 3 seasons ago in route to a career 3.72 ERA and 221 Saves. Brinkley has pitched in 15 postseason games and is 9 for 9 in save opportunities with a 3.00 ERA in 12 innings of work.

Closing out games is none other than Pablo Bonilla. Bonilla has baffled batters for years while amassing 67 wins, 227 saves, 942 strikeouts and a nasty 1.05 WHIP. As a closer he has pitched in over 100 games twice in his career and has pitched in 923 innings. There is no relief pitcher who can match his dominance. Unfortunately Bonilla's regular season dominance has yet to carry over into the postseason. He has pitched in 26 games and is 3-2 with 4 saves and a 4.89 ERA in 38.2 innings of work.

Now that we have taken a look at the Decades Pitching Staff it is time to turn our attention to the guys that score the runs, allowing these pitchers to record all their wins and saves! The team has a starter at each position and a bench consisting of five players.

Leading off for the Decades team is All-Star 2b Ed Donovan. Donovan is one of only two players in the World that have achieved a Runs Created Per Game of more than 1. Donovan mixes speed with power and has a career .323 batting average to go with 230 Home Runs, 887 RBI and 421 Stolen Bases. Donovan is the career leader with 345 doubles and is second with 62 Triples. Donovan is a 6 time All-Star and an MVP. He has won 3 Silver Slugger Awards and a single Gold Glove. In 53 playoff appearances Donovan has a .381 Batting Average with a 1.062 On Base plus Slugging Percentage and 50 Runs.

Batting second in the lineup is 3b Ryan Carr. Carr is an electric, multitalented player and that can be seen in the numbers he has put up throughout the decade. Carr is a 5 time All-Star and 3 time Silver Slugger. Surprisingly Carr does not rank in the top 5 in league history in any major category but his talent and production still speaks for itself. Carr has the ability to hit for average, career .323, and power, career 242 Home Runs. He has a career On Base Percentage of .422, which currently is just shy of 5^th all time. Carr has two World Series Rings and has played in 86 postseason games. He has 11 Home Runs and 50 RBI to go with a .317 Batting Average and .409 On Base Percentage and is 1 Hit shy of 100.

Batting third in the lineup is rf Damaso Peron. Peron is another unique talent, with elite speed and power. Peron has 314 career Home Runs and 823 RBI but does not rank in the Top 5 in either category All-Time. He also has 224 career Stolen Bases, which is quite a few for someone with as many Home Runs as he has. One of the biggest drawbacks of Peron's game is his near 1 strikeout per game. Peron is a 6 time All-Star and 4 time Silver Slugger and has won has been a league MVP. Peron is also a member of the 40/40 club.

Batting cleanup for the Decades team is none other than 3 time MVP and 7 Time All-Star lf, Andy Clayton. Clayton is the only other player in Ripken Jr to have a career Runs Created per Game of more than 1. Clayton is the career leader in On Base Percentage with a .437 and just pasted Ted Wilson for 1^st in RBI with 1112. He is also 2^nd in Home Runs with 392. His career 1.098 On Base plus Slugging Percent's also sits at the top of the career list. Clayton helped lead Syracuse to the World Title last season and added to his impressive post season numbers. Clayton is also a 4 time Silver Slugger Award winner. Clayton has played in 82 postseason games and boasts 26 Home Runs and 76 RBI.

Protecting Clayton on the decades team and batting fifth is 7 time All-Star and 5 time Silver Slugger as well as his current teammate , c Endy Suzuki. Suzuki is right on Clayton's tale in many categories, he currently ranks 3^rd All-Time with a 1.029 On Base plus Slugging Percent and is 4^th in Home Runs with 381. Suzuki is has a very good eye at the plate, walking 483 times in his career while striking out only 381 times. Suzuki may not be the best defensive catcher, but his career ERA is 4.10, which is not too bad, although it has helped that he has been catching Hall of Fame arms his entire career. Suzuki has been great in the postseason, with a career .303 batting average and 18 Home Runs in 79 games.

Batting sixth for the Decades is 2 time MVP and current teammate of two other starters, 1b Mikey Robbins. Robbins has exceled in every aspect of the game throughout his career and is the current career hits leader with 1,684 and holds the career batting average record at .342. Robbins is also in the Top 5 in career walks with 798. He has been selected to 3 All-Star games and is a 2 time Silver Slugger. Robbins finally won his first Ring last season, leading the Syracuse Tyrants to the Title and bolstering his Post Season numbers which include 94 Hits, 23 Home Runs and a .402 On Base Percentage in 320 At Bats.

Batting seventh in the lineup is cf Vic Sosa. Sosa is a 5 time All-Star and 2 time Silver Slugger. He does not rank in the Top 5 in any statistic but has clearly separated himself from the pack in centerfield. Sosa has a career .305 batting average and has added 217 Home Runs and 814 RBI. At 26 I'd expect to see Sosa on the next installment of the decade team as well.

Batting eighth for the decades is 3 time All-Star and two time Gold Glove winner, ss Diego Johnson. Deciding the Short Stop position was the hardest one to decide but Johnson ended up getting the nod for his superb defensive play. His career Fielding Percentage of .981 sets him apart from the rest. But don't think Johnson doesn't have a bat – while his career batting average of .258 is not stellar, he does have 151 Home Runs and 612 RBI.

With the lineup set, we still have 5 places left for the bench. These last five positions were the hardest to fill as there are quite a few qualified candidates. These next five players are listed in no particular order.

First on the bench is our backup c, 4 time All-Star and 4 time Silver Slugger, Jolbert Mieses. This was another hard position to fill, especially with Mieses switching between Designated Hitter and Catcher throughout his career, but his offensive statistics make him stand out among the rest of the catchers in the league. Mieses is 5^th All-Time with a career .421 On Base Percentage and is 3^rd All-Time with 836 Walks. Mieses may not be the best catcher behind the plate but his bat sets him apart from other catchers. While Mieses has yet to win a World Series Ring, he has help lead his team to the AL Pennant. He has 16 postseason Home Runs and 40 RBI in 46 Games.

Second on our bench is 3 time MVP, 1b Clarence Guiel. it was tough not getting Guiel into the starting lineup, but playing 1b has its downfalls. Guiel currently sits 5^th on the All-Time Home Run list with 362. A major accomplishment of Guiel's career is the fact that he is a two time member of the 40/40 club and he has 244 career stolen bases. Guiel is hurt slightly by his .288 career batting average.

Third on the bench is 8 time All-Star, 2 time Gold Glove and 5 time Silver Slugger, as well as former league MVP, Philip Cashman. Cashman ranks 5^th on the All-Time RBI list with 1061 and while he does not rank in the Top 5 in any other statistic he has magnificent career numbers. He has a career .316 batting average to go along with 331 Home Runs, 184 Stolen Base and 993 Runs. Cashman has played a variety of positions throughout his career, including SS, CF and 3B. While Cashman has only played in 31 postseason games, he does have a .320 Batting Average with 26 Runs and 12 Home Runs.

Fourth on the bench is 5 time All-Star, 2 time Gold Glove winner and 2 time Silver Slugger cof/3b Hick Hartley. Hartley does not rank in the Top 5 in any major statistic but he has some amazing offensive numbers to go along with his Golden Glove. Hartley has a career .292 Batting Average and .359 On Base Percentage to go along with 282 Home Runs and 853 RBI. Hartley has also flirted with the 40/40 club in his past, but has not reached that milestone yet. His closest year was Season 6 where he hit 44 Home Runs and stole 32 bases. Hartley has been a major contributor to two world Championship teams, playing in 61 Games and recording 15 Home Runs and 49 RBI to go along with 18 Stolen Bases and 43 Runs.

And now it is time to announce the final member of the Decades Team. This was a very hard decision to make but a few stats stood out among others for this player and one in particular that made his inclusion on the team a must.

The last player is 2 time All-Star and the only member of the 300 Home Run and 300 Stolen Base club, 1b/lf Walter Miller. Miller has a unique skill set, which can be seen with his inclusion in his very own club. Miller passed Ted Wilson this year for 3^rd All-Time on the Runs list with 1,029 and is the career leader in Triples with 71. Miller has a career .343 On Base Percentage to go along with 1,434 Hits, 314 Home Runs, 917 RBI and 354 Stolen Bases. Miller is also one of three members of the 40/40 club, all of which made the decades team. Miller has played in 41 postseason games and has had good success. He has a .308 Batting Average, 8 Home Runs and 29 RBI to go with 9 Stolen Bases and 30 Runs.

And that concludes the first addition of the Ripken Jr – Decade Team. While there can be arguments made for players that did not make the team I believe we have selected players that accomplishments make them worthy of the recognition. Many of these players look to continue their dominance in hopes of being elected to the Hall of Fame once they decide to hang up the shoes and retire from the game. Tune back in a decade from now when we will honor the next decades worth of stars!

Please check out here for the spreadsheet where I calculated and recorded career stats for players as well as other information to this process.

NL First Half Features

2010-08-28T20:34:00.000-05:00

The National League has heard for years how they don't have the overall talent that the American Leagues has. Somebody needs to remind the Charlotte Big Red and Fresno Griz, apparently the missed that memo. The All-Star weekend has pasted and the NL All-Stars took down the AL All-Stars in a game that, wasn't really a game.

But let's move on to what really matters, who has positioned themselves for Playoff time!

The top two teams in the NL this year are Charlotte (60-33) and Fresno (60-33) who right now are leading their respective divisions and are tied for Home Field Advantage in the post season. Both teams are up 6 games in their division. Charlotte leads the Austin Stunners (54-39), who are currently sitting in a Wild Card spot, while Fresno leads Honolulu Humuhumukununukuapua (54-39), who is sitting in the other Wild Card Spot.

Surging to take control in the East is the Dover Devils (51-42), two years removed from their Championship. Thanks to a six game win streak, accompanied by a 5 game skid by the Atlanta Crackers (50-43) Dover sits one game ahead in the East.

Lastly the North, where not a single team is above .500. The young and super talented Pittsburgh Pranksters (45-48) lead the division by three games over the Sioux Falls Badlands (42-51) who had a mid-season ownership change.

The NL is a bit more predictable then the AL this year as there is not a team like Kansas City that is underachieving and could potentially turn it on and mix things up. I fully expect to see Charlotte, Austin, Fresno and Honolulu in the Postseason. The Las Vegas Slots (50-43) are 4 games out of the Wild Card currently and have a lot of young talent but I still think they are a year away. In the East it could go either way but i'll stick with Dover. They have been here before and I expect that to be a huge advantage for them. In the North you might as well role a die. The only team I don't expect to win is the Pawtucket Trash Monsters (34-59) who are 11 games back. Pittsburgh has had talent for years and hasn't been able to make it to the playoffs yet. I'd like to say this is their year but history is not on their side. I'll stick with them here, only because of the talent they do have but would not be surprised to see either Sioux Falls or the Minnesota Conspiracy (40-53) make a push for the division either.

AL First Half Features

2010-08-28T20:16:00.001-05:00

All-Star Weekend has come and gone, the second half is upon us! After a Winter of helter skelter moves and numerous teams cashing in on a fantastic free agent market the season itself has been just as exciting! We started the discussing the power and talent of the American League; the National League must not have liked all that talk as they have shown through the first half they have some serious title contenders as well.

In no particular order the four teams that were talked about the most were the Wichita Black Lightning, Trenton Generals, Kansas City Black and Blue Brachiosaurus and, as always, the Salem Witch Doctors. These four teams were talked up as the Class of the League and top title contenders.

Two of those teams, Salem (62-31) and Trenton (60-33), have played fantastic ball all season, positioning themselves in the early 1 and 2 spots respectively. Wichita (54-39) has been good but not great and has played rather inconstantly, outside of future Hall of Fame starter Oscar Baumann none of the starters have found their groove yet. Chili Stocker started the year strong but has been very inconsistent in his last 10 starts. All three of these teams seem to be in good position to make the Playoffs this year barring some unforeseen disaster.

Kansas City has been non-existent and is absolutely the biggest surprise of the first half. The team looked like a lock for 100 wins in Spring Training but has struggled to stay above .500 and is 1-4 against division rival Wichita. Currently the team sits in third place in the AL East behind the Hartford Yellow Jackets. Kansas City can not afford this lackluster performance any longer being 9 games out of the Wild Card currently, or they will not be seeing any postseason ball.

AL North rivals, Syracuse Tyrants (55-38) and New York Moose Knuckles (54-39) have been strong this year and sit in the Wild Card spots early. Syracuse has stayed strong despite being gutted of Cy Young pitchers Pat Politte and Oscar Baumann who led the team to the World Series last season.

In the South the Tampa Bay Waves (49-44) lead the way behind their big free agent signee, slugger Achilles Cohen who was left off the All-Star team but leads the league with 43 Home Runs. Tampa Bay looks strong but is only 3 games ahead of Iowa City I Wanna Score More (46-47).

When the Playoffs start I expect to see Trenton and Salem as the 1 and 2 seeds, with Wichita as the 3. Although it would not surprise me to see Wichita make a strong push for a 1st round bye. I expect to see Tampa Bay hold on to the South. If Cohen's bat goes cold then watch out, Iowa City will be ready to take the division if he should falter. I expect New York and Syracuse to hold onto the Wild Cards, but would be shocked not to see Kansas City make a push at some point. Hartford is a very young and talented team but they have no pitching and that is going to hurt them, they might be a spoiler, knocking someone out of the Playoffs, but I don't see them making a push for a spot themselves.

First Half Awards

2010-08-27T17:21:00.000-05:00

Well we are at the half way point in the season and there have been many surprises and also expected results. As Ryan Carr went out and won the Home Run derby today in slugging fashion let's take a closer look at how the first half has played out!

First let's take a look at both league's early Cy Young Races. Both leagues have a few guys who stand out early. In the AL you have Oscar Baumann (14-4, 3.17) who leads the league in wins and is likely has the slight early edge as you can guarantee he will continue to get the wins with the Wichita lineup behind him. Pat Politte (10-1, 2.55) is right there behind him but I give the early edge to Baumann since he has meant a lot more to the Lightning than Politte has meant to the Brachiosaurus'. Also right behind those two is Salem pitcher Keith Bagwell (11-1, 2.64) and Syracuse pitcher Enrique Carrasquel (11-2, 2.67). I think all four of these guys will be in the mix for the award at the end of the year I give Baumann the slight edge because he has clearly meant much more to his team, without him the Lightning would be lucky to be above .500.

Moving to the NL Trevor Douglass (10-4, 2.04) leads the way. The 23 year old rightie has been amazing this year and will be in the mix right down to the end. Right behind him is a group of three pitchers who have all had fantastic first halves, former Cy Young winner Torey Fernandez (12-5, 2.41) has been electric for Dover. Also Chad Lamb (11-3,2.45) and Doc Hunter (9-2, 2.52) have been fantastic for Austin and have kept the team near the top of the league all year. I'll stick with Douglass and his near sub-2.0 era as my first half Cy Young.

Moving onto the AL MVP race, the story of the year has been Achilles Cohen (43 HR, 97 RBI, .277) , who has been crushing the ball all year and has already matched his Home Run total from last year. But is his .277 going to hurt his MVP candidacy? He has brought Tampa Bay to the top of the South, so in my book he has a very legit claim to the title. This year has also been a career year for Ryan Carr (26 HR, 94 RBI, .360). He came to Wichita this spring in the hopes of getting back to the World Series and if he keeps up these numbers he might make that happen. If neither of those stat lines made you wish those guys were dressed in your colors take a look at a guy that combines both Cohen's Power and Carr's Average - Bill Weaver (32 HR, 80 RBI, .357). Bill has New York fighting for a division title this year and has done what neither of the previous two players have, hit for both power and average. He might not be at the top of the list but I think we also need to mention Trenton All-Star Ed Donovan (23 HR, 71 RBI, 29 SB, .328) he adds speed and stolen bases to his resume which neither of the other top players do. Right now I have to say that Cohen is the early favorite with Carr right on his tail.

In the NL we start out with Chris Lyons (23 HR, 89 RBI, .310). Lyons is a great player who is able to hit for power, average and steal the occasional base. Steven Munson (34 HR, 84 RBI, .341) is also having a spectacular year. Like Lyons, Munson also has the ability to steal bases and is leading Minnesota to their best year ever. Harry Rodriguez (19 HR, 69 RBI, .361) is having a solid year, but no on the level of either Munson or Lyons. I think the MVP will come down between the two of those and my early winner has to be Munson.

The AL has some good rookies this year and I will touch on a few. This award will come down to the very end of the year. Right now I would have to give the early lead to Ken Borchard (10 HR, 40 RBI, 19 SB, .332). He combines everything and what he lacks in power he gets back with his speed. He is helping Albuquerque become relevant this year and getting them close to .500 along with fellow rookie Valerio Rosario (16 HR, 54 RBI, 19 SB, .309). I think that Fred Hutch (1 HR, 27 RBI, 52 SB, .242) as well. If he can raise his batting average 20 to 30 points in the 2nd half he could seriously contend for the award if he goes over 100 SB. The World Record is 118, which he won't hit this year but as he gets more comfortable at the Major League level I'd expect him to contend for the record, as he should get on base enough with his bat.

For the NL Rookie of the Year award I don't really feel there is much of a competition currently. Right now I feel the Award is Desi Carreras (7-2, 3.82) award to lose. Al Alvarado (6-6, 3.67) is the closest competitor but I think his losses hurt him currently.

Let's take a quick look at the leaders for the Fireman Award. Right now I think the AL leader is Danny Brinkley (0-0, 21 SV, 1.71). He doesn't quite have the save numbers yet - which ultimately might kill him because his team had had so many blowouts but he has been near un-hitable this year with a .062 WHIP and .162 OAV. Also Harold Williams (0-2, 25 SV, 4.05), Jose Gabriel (1-5, 19 SV, 3.60) and Bing Frazier (0-0, 23 SV, 2.96) should be in contention. If Esmailyn Rojas (0-5, 29 SV, 4.25) can get his ERA down he could contend as well.

The NL award is a bit harder to predict seeing as how the ERA's are a bit higher. I'd have to say the award will come from between Jerry Murphy (0-1, 24 SV, 3.62), Brian Davis (0-2, 22 SV, 2.78), Hiram Kent (0-0, 21 SV, 2.70) and Omar Franco (0-4, 21 SV, 2.63). I'll take Davis as the current early leader.

Power Rankings

2010-08-03T22:47:00.004-05:00

Here we go with the first set of power rankings. I will post the top 10 and the associated stats and add a little write up later on the top 5.

1) Charlotte Big Red (20-6, 10-0 W14)

Without a doubt the #1 team in RJ currently. The team is 6th in the League with a 3.80 ERA and closer Jerry Murphy leads the league with 10 saves. And don't forget the bats, Charlotte is 4th in the league with a .293 average and even after losing slugger Achilles Cohen this offseason the team is ranked 4th in the league with 46 Home Runs and 5th with a .490 slugging average.

2) Trenton Generals (19-7, 8-2 W2)

Trenton comes close to being #1, if it were not for the 14 game win streak that Charlotte is on I would likely have moved Trenton into the top slot. Trenton, lead by Ed Donovan, leads the League in almost every offensive category, average (.314), on base percent (.377), slugging average (.531), hits (302) and doubles (62). Trenton's pitching is not so good and might be the teams Achilles heal throughout the season. The team is 23rd in the league in ERA with a 4.64.

3) Wichita Black Lightning (17-9, 6-4 W3)

Wichita gets a slight boost over Salem and Iowa City due to their last 3 games performance, including a 31 run game yesterday. As expected the clubs offense has been phenomenal. The club combines power and speed like no other team in the league. The team 2nd in the league in stolen bases, with 69 and 12th with 37 Home Runs. The team also leads the league in walks with 103 and triples with 12. The team is 2nd, only to Trenton, in almost every other offensive stat. The team has been lead by 3b Ryan Carr, who has been sensational since being acquired via trade from the Sioux Falls Badlands. The team also has 3 players in the top 5 in the league in stolen bases. The clubs pitching has been mediocre. The rotation, other then Ace Oscar Baumann and #2 Chili Stocker, has been ok but relief pitching has been the teams Achilles heal. Closer Danny Brinkley has been solid but outside of him the bullpen needs help.

4) Salem Witch Doctors (17-9, 6-4 W1)

Salem is the top team when it comes to averaging their overall bats with their arms, it hasn't shown quite as much as GM Taz would like but it bodes well for October. The team is ranked #2 in the league in average (.304), #4 in on base percent (.374) and #3 in walks (101). Couple that with their #5 ERA (3.66) and #6 WHIP (1.27) and you have a team that will be in the hunt for the World Series come October.

5) Iowa City I Wanna Score More (19-7, 8-2 W1)

Iowa has one of the top record in the League and has shown that they might be able to hang in with the top tier of teams, time will show whether they can through the entire season. Either way I expect Iowa City to be in the Playoffs come season end. The team is lead by a pitching staff ranked #5 in WHIP (1.24) and #9 in ERA (4.00). Ace Omar Vargas is right near the top of the league in all pitching categories and is 4-1 with a 1.88 ERA. The teams bats have been near the top of the league as well, with the club currently in #6 in average (.285) and #9 in on base percent (.341). The team also leads the league in Home Runs with 51. Lead by Mark Carew who is 6th in the league with 10 HRs.

6) Honolulu Humuhumukununukuapua (18-8, 7-3 W1)
7) Austin Stunners (15-11, 6-4 W1)
8) Atlanta Crackers (16-10, 6-4 W3)
9) Vancouver Giants (15-11, 6-4 L2)
10) Kansas City Black and Blue Brachiosaurus (13-13, 5-5 L1)

I have to admit with the AL being the stronger league I did give a little more weight to teams in the American over the National League, you might disagree with that and you will see a team like Kansas City ranked a bit higher then you might assume. I fully expect to see them in the Top 5 by the end of the year but as of now they have not played to their potential.

Carr Reaches 24 straight, breaks Franchise Record

2010-08-03T22:29:00.003-05:00

3b Ryan Carr set a Franchise record earlier today in the Wichita Black Lightning's shelling of the Tacoma Amber Flashlongs.

Carr extended his hitting streak to 21 games with his 2nd inning Grand Slam.

Carr's streak currently sits at 24 games, which breaks Nick Hunter's franchise record of 20 games set in season 5 and is 18 games behind Ted Wilson's record of 40 games.

Right behind Carr is teammate Peter Elster who is currently sitting with a 23 game hit streak.

"I want to beat him bad," Elster said after today's game.

While Carr's answer to the question was a little more team oriented "We're here to win games for Wichita. Period. If that means I help out with a nice hitting streak so be it, but I really couldn't care less about the personal accolades, I want to be playing and winning in October."

Top 4 in the AL by the numbers

2010-07-22T12:51:00.004-05:00

I'll start w/ an apology to the NL. I was planning to do this for both leagues, but have quickly realized it took long enough just for the AL, so there likely won't be any NL preview unless someone else wants to take the horns. I'll offer a second apology to anyone in the AL that thinks they deserve to be on this list of the top 4; I feel pretty good that these 4 teams will be top in the AL by the time the season ends, but please prove me wrong (just not at my expense).

So w/o further ado, there were 4 teams I thought were head & shoulders above the rest of the AL. Well at least Heads above, as there are still some pretty strong teams that will contend for the WC spots and division crowns and certainly there will be a trade or 2 that will turn teams from pumpkins into chariots by the time the playoffs roll around. Anyhoo, those 4 are largely the top 4 teams from last season, Trenton, Kansas City, Salem, and near playoff team Wichita that has made 2 huge offseason moves to put themselves up there amongst this group. However, rather than just spewing my worthless opinion (who needs my $0.02 anyways?), I thought I'd put some ratings analysis behind it, and see if I can properrly rank them. So here we go.

We'll start w/ the offense and the likely starting 9. I'm not going to worry myself w/ durability or health ratings. Injuries will happen, and players will need rest, but I want to look what each team's best lineup will be, which assuradly they'll throw out there once the "real" season begins.

Team: Con/Pwr/vsL/vsR/Eye/Brn/Spd Tot Pwr Tot OBP Tot Spd Tot Offense
A 70 65 71 70 74 61 66 3.5 3.51 1.3 8.31
B 80 40 66 67 62 74 77 3.15 3.52 1.5 8.17
C 78 64 59 65 76 58 75 3.43 3.54 1.3 8.27
D 64 58 62 73 65 55 63 3.21 3.26 1.2 7.67

A little commentary, using factors that went into power, obp, and the running game, I figured out an offensive production number for each rating, a relative worth and a total offensive output. Perhaps there are better ways to do it, but this was off the top of my head, using things that made sense in my mind, then went to see how it shaked out, which seemed to match what my gut told me before I started. Team C & Team A appear to be pretty close, though Team A has a little more power. Team B has about 10% less power than both A & C, but makes up for it w/a 15% advantage in the speed and base running catagory and in the end, ends up about 2% short of teams A & C. Team D falls short in all 3 catagories. I thought their offense would be a little more potent on paper, but they fall about 7-10% short of the top 3.

Pitching:

I'll start by looking at starters, and by starters, I mean your starters in the playoffs, and any GM/Coach w/ his salt is going to get his stud out there twice in a 5 game set, and 3 times in a 7 game set. So I took each team's top 3, doubled up on 1 & 2, since you can expect them twice, and came up w/ an average starter.

Team Stm/Cnt/vsL/vsR/Vel/GdB/P1/P2/P3/P4/P5
A 87 89 77 85 35 83 88 79 50 63 43
B 75 76 82 86 55 76 76 72 61 49 22
C 71 84 79 78 63 81 83 73 65 48 19
D 83 74 73 74 72 51 77 64 58 55 31

Overall, these 3 sets of starters looks pretty even. Team A won't strike many out, but doesn't expect a lot of long balls. Team D will mow thru your lineup, but expect some flyball homers. Team B has the best splits, while Team C kind of falls in the middle in every area. Team A has the best combo of control and stamina to get you deep into a ball game, they also have the best set of P1 & P2, w/ a solid kicker in the P5 department. As mentioned, Team B's splits are great, but their top 2 pitchers fall behind A & C w/o the control of either. Overall, I'd say the fall just a notch below A & C like they did in the offensive catagory, with Team D coming up clearly in 4th.

Back of the bullpen:
Middle relief is nice, but these guys starters are designed to carry you deep into games so you can turn it over to your setup men and closer. I took each teams top 3 bullpeners or starters turned playoff relievers to rank each set. I'm only looking at P1 & P2, as many relievers lack those last 3 pitches.

Team Stm/Cnt/vsL/vsR/Vel/GdB/P1/P2
A 38 88 79 77 84 66 81 83
B 51 86 81 71 88 80 73 72
C 21 90 68 65 78 74 86 82
D 45 77 80 71 73 65 84 75

Again its hard to seperate teams A, B & C. All 3 have similar control, A & B dominate in splits over C, while C has the top set of P1 & P2. Team B has the best groundball ratio, meaning you won't see many walk-off homers, but questionable pitches for the back of a bullpen. And once again, team D comes up short of the top 3. Overall, I'd say A & B are tied for the best back of the bullpen, with C coming up just a shade short, and D trailing along, clearly in 4th.

Pitching depth:

Injuries are going to happen, starters will need rest during the season, and nothing can derail a championship run than losing your top starter once the playoffs begin.

Team Stm/Cnt/vsL/vsR/Vel/GdB/P1/P2/P3/P4
A 59 85 81 71 79 48 74 63 43 43
B 82 73 71 74 53 78 72 77 51 26
C 61 84 50 58 77 82 80 73 41 21
D 58 71 66 72 63 79 87 67 44 44

First, Team B's depth, while looking strong at the moment, is highly influenced by only carring 9 pitchers at the moment, 5 solid starters, but short of middle relief. For the playoffs, this shouldn't be much of an issue, but it could cost them a few games mid-season when they're forced to turn to crappy long men. Aside from that, Teams A comes out on top w/ solid control and splits, a little lacking on the groundball/flyball ration, but a solid set of pitches. Next is D w/ a great set of pitches, but just acceptable control, but decent splits and a great gb/fb ratio. Team C comes in 3rd w/ great perhiphals, but terrible splits, a solid combination for middle relief, but perhaps a bit troublesome for the back of the rotation or injury relief. Final team B comes in last w/ the previously mentioned concerns. A couple of injuries could send this staff to a 10 game losing streak, hampered even more by a tight team payroll.

Now, I'll turn my attention to defense, which will be a little more subjective and based upon positions. I'll skip presenting the numbers and just go w/ my thoughts since its a lot tougher to make a defensive determination w/ so many different ratings mattering to different position.

Behind the plate:

Team A clearly comes out on top w/ the top pitch caller amongst projected playoff starters, not to mention the best overall defensive backup for the regular season and great depths in the minors should injuries occur. Team D comes in 2nd, well behind team A in defensive catching amongst projected playoff starters, but with a very solid pitch calling backup w/ an 'OK' arm. Team C comes in next with an ok defensive catcher behind the plate, and an above average backup. Team D comes in last, though not by much w/ a so-so defensive catcher and a great defensive backup w/ no bat. Probably the best bet to use their backup as a defensive replacement.

Up the middle (SS-2b-CF)

Team B comes out ahead in this catagory, especially at 2b and CF, however there will be some worries w/ their regular SS defense. Teams A & D, look to be pretty close and in a tie for 2nd w/ solid defense at all 3 spots, GG level at SS, with A having a better centerfielder, and D having the better defensive second baseman. Team C takes 4th w/ equally solid defense at SS, but a step or 2 behind A & D at CF & 2b.

At the corners (3b-RF-LF-1b)

OK, so defense doesn't matter so much at LF and a little less at 1b, but both can cost you a ball game or 2. Team A has the best defense at 3b and RF, with potential gold glovers in both spots, not to mention solid defenders in LF & 1b. As team B slides their 3b to SS, their going to be hurting in 3b defense, not to mention the outfield corners as they continue to slide. right now, I'd have to consider them the weakest at the corners, but could improve rapidly w/ a great defensive SS (which they have on the bench) and sacraficine some offense elsewhere. Team C is a little weak in 3b arm, but solid at the other spots, while team D takes 2nd in this catagory w/ solid play at third, and solid defense in the outfield.

Overall defense:

Unless team B fixes its projected SS situation, which will help 3b & RF, team A takes the cake in this catagory, followed by D, then team B, then team C. However, as noted, team B could jump to the top by sacraficing a little offense.

One final note, all teams' bench seem to be about even. each has a solid defensive replacement, a solid defensive catcher, a little speed, not much pop but all players that could fill in for an injury. No body that is screaming for playing time, but all that can give the occasional rest.

So to wrap it all up.

Team A takes top honors in offense, starting pitching, back of the bullpen, pitching depth, and overall defense.
Team B takes top honors for the back of the bullpen, a close 3rd in offense and starting pitching, a lot to worry about in pitching depth, and the worst defense of the 4, but the potential to be the best.
Team C takes top honors in offense, and starting pitching, 3rd in the back of the bullpen, 3rd in pitching depth and defense
Team D takes 2nd in defense and pitching depth, and 4th in offense, starting pitching and the back of the bullpen.

I thought team D would be more competitive when I started this, however, last year's regular season wins champ has a tough road ahead if it wants to keep that crown. Team D is Trenton

Team B comes in 3rd, though not by much. Defense could be an issue and depth could be a huge issue if there are multiple injuries. However its offense (particularly their speed) and starting pitching gives them a legit shot at the W-S crown. Team B is Kansas City

Team C comes in 2nd w/ great offense and great starting pitching. Their back of the bullpen and defense leave them a notch below top honors, but are probably the 2 easiest areas to fix thru the trade market before the playoffs get here. Team C is Wichita

Team A takes top honors or at least challenges for them across the board. Of course w/ the top payroll, anything less than having the top team on paper would be a sore eye on the GM, while anything less than reclaiming the W-S crown will be a blackeye on the city. Team A is Salem.

Good luck knocking me off my high horse fellas :)

The Aftermath

2010-07-17T00:00:00.000-05:00

There was surprises, mishaps and of course a few max contracts the past few days. While many questioned his tactics, GM Flytekk of the Austin Stunners went out and locked up Chad Lamb, the youngest of the Ace's on the market. Lamb and his three rings left the Anaheim Pepperchuckers for Free Agency and left town because the club could not match the offer that Austin put out. To lure Lamb the Stunners made Thurman Linebrink the highest paid coach in league history. Rumor's sorounded Lamb through the winter that whoever landed Linebrink would have the inside track to landing Lamb. A few franchises headed the advice, as you can see with the $11.5 million salary he commanded. True to the rumor Lamb went ahead and signed with Austin shortly after the hiring of Linebrink was announced.

Also making big news this week in Free Agency was the Kansas City Black and Blue Brachiosaurus. Kansas city GM indiansrck27 went out and re-signed last year's MVP LF Ted Wilson to smaller deal after letting him go just days prior. Wilson was joined by COF Omar Campos, who fits KC's player pattern very well. KC also landed one of the 3 Ace's on the market in Pat Politte, which was some consultation for losing All-Star 2b Philip Cashman, who the team did not even offer a contract to and signed with the Pittsburgh Pranksters for a less then max deal - which surprised many.

The Salem Witch Doctors stuck out on priority number one in Cashman due to an accounting error which left the team with less money then expect and therefore they could not offer a full max deal. Instead the club signed 2b Larry Carver, who is a better offensive player the Cashman is and came cheaper then a full max offer.

After acquiring Ryan Carr early in Winter Meetings the and declaring their offense the "Best in the League" the Wichita Black Lightning added a key piece to their title hopes in Max Free Agent Ace, Oscar Baumann. Many teams were scared off by his age, 32 and giving him $60 million guaranteed money after he turned 35 but even after the Joe Cohen incident the team was ready to do what it takes to make themselves a contender again.

The Tampa Bay Waves made a push to get back into contention by signing the leagues all time Home Run leader in 3b Achilles Cohen. This should give them a good boost to their offense, Cohen is moving to a slightly less hitter friendly park so his power numbers may fall a bit but non-the-less it was a good signing by the club.

Lastly the Vancouver Giants went out and got another good starter after getting Galahad Dale last season, who they still hope can have some good recovery in a month when he returns. The club signed Len Knott to a hefty contract, which GM Kreller131 did say he might have overspent but said he would do whatever it took to make Vancouver a winner and this was one of those steps.

In this unprecedented free agent class, one that some had been looking forward to for seasons, things may not have shook out exactly as expected, reigning world champs Syracuse Tyrants were unable to secure either of their stud Ace's from last years title run, it brings a whole new look on how this season and seasons to come will play out. After the dust settles I would contend that the Kansas City Black and Blue Brachiosaurus, Wichita Black Lightning and the Salem Witch Doctors come out as the top three teams in the League, followed by the Austin Stunners.

AL MVP, Wilson, Released

2010-07-12T22:18:00.000-05:00

In a surprising move to many the Kansas City Black and Blue Brachiosaurus choose to decline their end of reigning AL MVP Ted Wilson. Wilson was scheduled to make $20 million this season.

The club choose to let him go to open up room under the salary cap to offer two max contracts this Winter.

It was an interesting move but one that could backfire if Kansas City is unable to land the players that they are targeting. Losing Wilson also takes away a guy who was just a few stolen bases away from joining the 40/40 club.

Wichita opens Winter with a BANG!

2010-07-12T21:46:00.000-05:00

In the Year of Free Agents, Wichita made sure they were not going to be going home empty handed.

The club had cleared almost $62 million to be able to offer two max contracts to Elite Free Agents before the Winter Meetings had started, things changed quickly when the club realized that All-Star 3b Ryan Carr was available the club quickly shifted it's attention to working out a deal to acquire him.

The club started out by declining to offer arbitration to last years starting 3b, Nick Hunter and 2b Ethan Ellis who were both asking for over $7.5 million. The move was cost cutting so the club could reach their $62 million mark but quickly offered the opening for Carr in the lineup.

Carr, who has played most of his career for the Sioux Falls Badlands Franchise who's new owner has decided to rebuild the team. Carr agreed to a sign and trade extension before the trade was completed, signing a $39.5 million, 5 year deal.

In return for Carr the Badlands received last year's #15 pick, 2b prospect Jeff Bradford, who projects to be a very good every day 2b along with power hitting LF/1B Felipe Romero and closer Colby Friedrich.

"We are very excited to be able to agree to terms to the sign and trade deal for Ryan Carr," said GM Zhawks," We had saved our money to make a push for an Elite pitching staff but the money is better spent here and will give us a top notch lineup for years to come."

Free Agent Bonanza

2010-07-09T21:35:00.011-05:00

You can't help but notice all the marquee players available in this years Free Agent Pool. You almost wonder where to start? With arguably the best players in the league and Hall of Famers too all available to the highest bidder this year many franchises are 'Miami Heating' their roster's in hopes of landing some of the games best. Almost every team in the league expects to have the money to offer a Max Contract to a player or two, with some of the leagues top teams having multiple offers at their disposal. Where player's will land is still a mystery as many are guarding their futures tight, nobody has yet decided to create their own TV Show to make their decision known.

With that let's get these meaningless introductions of this Free Agent class underway!

(This post will be a work in progress - I will publish it with every player added.)

First let's take a look at the players that are likely to get multiple max offers out of the gate.

Ripken Jr

Season 9 FA Bonanza, revisted 5 years later.

Season 12, League Championships, Heroes & Chumps

Season 12, Round 2: Heros and Chumps

Season 12, round 1: Heros & Chumps

The other side of the coin

the "Next 10" series, part 5, corner infielders and power bats

the "next 10" series, part 4: Middle of the Diamond

"The Next 10" series, part 3, Catchers

The "next 10" series, part 2: The Outfield.

The "next 10" part 1

Knockin' down the door to 500

The quest for 200 wins, who you got?

Free Agency Recap

The Geriatric Times?

Heros & Goats, round 3, Season 9

Heros & Goats, round 2, season 9

Season 9, Heros & Goats

The Chase for 20 wins.

A Decade of Brilliance

NL First Half Features

AL First Half Features

First Half Awards

Power Rankings

Carr Reaches 24 straight, breaks Franchise Record

Top 4 in the AL by the numbers

The Aftermath

AL MVP, Wilson, Released

Wichita opens Winter with a BANG!

Free Agent Bonanza

Season 8, Heros & Goats, Round 1

Mid-season peak at Ripken, JR

Hartford makes Push in AL

Wichita Adds Bats While Salem Adds an Arm

Lamb, we don't need no stinkin' Lamb

Future of the Ripken Jr. Hall of Fame

International Market

Wichita Finally Addresses 2b need

Free Agent Recap

Mary had a little Lamb, little lamb, little lamb, Mary had a little lamb, and Boise has him now..

Miller, Phillips Agree to Extensions

Rumor: Miller to extend contract with Lightning

Lightning Acquire King's Replacement

Blockbuster Deal: Dolphins' ship Baumann to Montreal

League approves Trade - Garcia to Boise

Wichita makes splash, acquires All-Star

Wichita takes big hit

Power Poll - Week 3

Hot Stove Rumors - Eugene Garcia

Where are they now? #1 Picks

Mexico City hires new GM

Game of the Week

Pittsburgh looks towards the future

Little Rock makes push to get back to World Series

Montreal hopes to keep streak alive

Waves break the bank, hope to end losing streak

FlyTekks to leave Miami

Hot Stove Rumors - Dover Devils

Aftermath of the Ed Donovan Trade

Richmond and Wichita swap

Flytekks acquire new Ace

Santiago, Trinidad look to bring home World Championship

Lightning Bench Coach Retires

Alternative Energy Solutions aquires Black Lightning

Heros & Chumps League Championships (Season 6)

Heros and Goats (Round 2)

Draft Review (Part 4)

Draft Review (Part 3)

Mid Season Roundup

Season 6 draft review (Part 2)

Season 6 draft review, aka the year of the "yeah, but..."

AL South Top Prospects List

AL East Top Prospects List

AL North Top Prospects List

Best on the Block (Pitchers)

Best on the Block (Position Players)

Oops He Did It Again?

Winter Free Agent Market (Pitchers)

Benitez Signs