2003 Predictions

[funclown]

Any thoughts on how this first full "clean" season will play out?

I see two very interesting races this season (one IL & one DL) and of course the wildcard is usually very competitive.

What team will improve the most?

What team will dissappoint?

Who's really bad?

Whats do you think about your own team?

What if c.a.t really spells dog?

[Pat]

dieselmetrics coming soon.

[funclown]

IL - PORTER

Thought about doing the Pilsner since its an interesting race also. However, its only a two team race. Here I think all 4 have a shot:





1- Philadelphia Freedom - Its not a lock. Is Doug Miles finished? At 36, how many more mile can Pete Fitzgerald go? Will 'Grinder' find his 2000 stroke again? Overall though, its still the most balanced team. C Victor Alvarez is still in his prime, 'Spoon' is complete lockdown closer and having Tex Watts roam the middle IF makes the pitcher feel safe. (95-67)



2- Baltimore Bulldogs - Quite the offseason for last seasons cellar dwellars. Whatever could go wrong, went wrong in the first half of 2002 for the Bulldogs. Seems sucess went to they're heads. So Delandis went out and made 5000 trades (actually 3) none more bold then Al Hamilton. I'm sure Al does very well in this anti- Pawtucket park. Doug Coates doesn't appear to be aging well and David Leyva takes the closer role for the first time since 2000. Its gonna be close, but I think they pull short. (93-69)



3- Batavia Muckdogs - Last season got off to a hot start, but then faded. Still, think this was just the start. Completely love whats going on here. Broderick Farquharson , Willis Gomez are a nice start in the rotation to go along with a hellish young bullpen will continue to get better to go along with 4-6 PLUS contact young hitters who might end up playing the big show this season. Once again, little power exist here. The GM must be scared of big burly men roaming the locker room. If this team hangs around come August could SP- Diego Martinez be called up? This team carries more options down the stretch. (90-72)



4- California Kodiaks- missed the playoffs narrowly last season to a fiesty Philly team. So whats next? Well this offseason nothing. Could be they have little budget room or they just are obsessed with cool hitters. Sure they can hit, but will just clubbing the ball be the answer? After 'Old Nick' (A sure fire #2 on most teams) no one on this pitching staff scares you. Yes, they will hit and hit well but I'm seeing alot of 7-5 losees for Cali this season. Insanity- when you do the same thing over and over again and expect a different outcome. (86-76)


I was just teasing Linty. Overall by far the best division in baseball. Of course one I'm sure will start hot and one everything will go wrong, but its possible the overall spread between first and last ends up being 5-6 games.

Good luck to everyone.

[Delandis]

Why does everyone continue to doubt the Bulldog Nation?

[funclown]

IL BOCK

Lots of spare time today so I can quickly hit this one:




1- Windy City Playboys- Last season I thought they were being annointed way too quickly. People got way to hung up on "blue bars" and forget there's some strange "experience pts" we don't see or understand. Well fast forward one season and my view is way different. Aquired veteran Joe Rojas (Top 10 hitter), JJ Chaplan started showing late season what he's all about. The rotation is almost comical, with two ACES and two potiental ACES in the not to distant future. Jon Gutierrez is your typical 30-35hr hitter that all teams need. Top it off, THE MORON STARTED TO FIX HIS STADUIM! Bullpen is still the weakness, but got enough pieces to pull this division thru. Jistic should be removed from the league if he doesn't win with this talent.(99-63)



2. Los Alamos Amigos- Last seasons Bock champion used an ace and pure power hitting to win it while Windy City was attempting to grow pubes. Financial debt prevented this team from further upgrades plus the fact Hector Duarte might be flaming out before 30. I know Spot will do his best, but this time I don't see it.(80-82)



3. Carolina Tobs- Well after years of poor pitching and outrageous spending (Ánibal Román, REALLY?) it was time to pay the piper. Top player OF Al Hamilton, SP Wenceslas Hautbourg, RP Basil Petrohilos and "we barely knew you" SS Ian Morrow were sent packing. Still have decent hitting in Goto & Perales, but you might as well choose "pitcher for the day" from the Carolina fan base to start each game. Its gonna be awhile and expect even more salary trade dumps during this season.(68-94)



4. Davenport Brawlers- Going thru this I'd thought for sure Davenport would be breaking out of the basement. Looking closer realized there is nothing and I mean NOTHING on offense besides Pat Danford. Possible young ace in 'Barbwire'. CL- Hans Gordinho is still hanging in there, but at 34 might as well trade him since he probably won't hold on for this rebuild job. Some nice pieces in the future coming, but Davenport needs to NAIL the last of the "two top 10 first rounders" from the Denver deal. Need to start hitting the later round picks. I regress, back the major league team......they suck.(62-100)



Overall, still a crap division. Top teams just seem to flip flop every so often. Its Windy Citiy's turn this time. Have a feeling this one will be awhile.

[Matt]

I would love a few big burly men roaming around...just can't find them.

And fantastic writeups!

[umd]

We will suck for a very long time.

[funclown]

We will suck for a very long time.

Hey, I haven't previewed you yet.

[funclown]

IL STOUT

Going to finish off this whacky pitchers should hit, have sex with our cousins league:




1. Washington Bats- I can go on and on about "the greatest GM ever", but I won't. 2002 Brewmaster Champs, #6 farm system, silly built staduim this team has a legit shot of team of the decade. DuFour & Downs top pitchers still in they're primes to go along with veteran closer JJ Black (one of the best closers ever). Neat slap hitters in B.J. "penis" Jobe & Tyler "I hold hands with BJ" McLouth its moving the runners and tough defense thats the staple of this team. Threats will be coming in the Stout, but not this season.(100-62)



2. Morgantown Mohawks- The 'Condor' injury sucks to start the year off. Really has an nice overall rotaion with veteran ace Jerry Howell and Ted Dickerson in his prime. Add Condor to this with "critter" in the pen they should win some games. The talk of sping training has been 1B Hector "butt smeller" Feliciano. Kid seems poised to blow up as an elite power hitter. The bad news is they won't threaten Washington. The good news.....(84-78)FIRST WINNING SEASON IN TEAM HISTORY!!!



3. Wilmington Blue Wave - They have some real TOP players here in SP-Erik Keifer & OF-Zak Gaston. Seems SP- Mat McCarty recovered well and should be a #3 pitcher. Probably could be better team until you dig deeper and realize there are gaps everywhere from IF, backend starters and overall bullpen. Funny, every season they appear to have money to burn. Ownership has forced the GM return a profit back every season. $12,738,505 profit to the owner! So instead of investing in a top veteran player or two, the owner gets rich and the Wilmington fan base spends its time at strip clubs.(75-87)



4. Death Valley Scorpions- After the purge not a whole lot left. 1B Danny Salcedo will have to wait 3-4 years until some semblance of they're glory years return. Knowing this owner, he's not done dealing. Lol, matter of fact I can see once a player performs he might get shipped out of town. Props to UMD for already boasting the #3 farm system in baseball. Death Valley's young fan base (assumed trailer trash) is going to have to be patient. Dont' worry, he will get you there.(57-105)

[Jimmy]

Hopefully the Clown is done drinking for the day...

[Jake]

I'm loving it. Bob Costas is too scared to talk like this.

[Jimmy]

What team will improve the most?
Windy City, hands down. There were too many youngsters in one year to really feel the impact this team is going to have. Several good power hitters to go with one of the best BLB starting rotations. Solid defense as well. There only weakness might be in the pen but they have a lights out closer there as well.

What team will dissappoint?
It's hard to predict who is going to disappoint, because it is subjective. But this is probably going to have to be Maine. They just don't have the offense in place this year and the defense is not the same calibre as previous years. They are featuring a lefty heavy starting rotation, and the one thing I know about the DL is lefties have a MUCH harder time here than righties. You can do it with BP kids, but not starters.

Who's really bad?
Carolina. Too many players traded away. Don't get me wrong, Death Valley will be bad too, but they may have residual affects that prop them up for another season.

Whats do you think about your own team?
LA made a few changes in the rotation this year but should pitch about the same as last year. The only bats we added were SS Marco Lona and RF Stephen Alexander(Rule V). We ended up holding back our future CF JR Lowe, mostly because he dropped off the top prospect list, so he won't be coming up until the fall. We may have enough to challenge New Orleans for a little while but we are still short a few defense players that will keep us out of the Lager lead.

What if c.a.t really spells dog?
If I'm looking Funclowns spelling correctly, it actually might?

[mwetts]

Hopefully the Clown is done drinking for the day...

Yea right we haven't even gotten to the DL yet.

[Carlos]

Yea right we haven't even gotten to the DL yet.

The clown doesn't do DL.

[Jake]

What team will improve the most?
WC is the obvious candidate, and it's ridiculous how good they could be over the next few years, but unlike the OOTP world, I think Maine is going to be really good this year. Love the addition of Manhos, wasn't crazy about Warren but he's very solid, Nelson Reyes is very nice, and Paulsen could/should be better. Kind of stayed pat on offense, little downgrade at 1st with Munoz but he looks like he might perform in Maine. Also... Batavia. Probably not a playoff team yet but they can't help to keep getting better with that system and all these young kids finally getting to that time.

What team will dissappoint?
Not sure who... but one of the Porter's "big three" I think is going to pull a Baltimore2k2 and fizzle out.

Who's really bad?
I'm sorry Carlos, you are very dear to me, but Denver. They're worse than they were last year. Robinson is ok, but I think he's about done. Rex Knight is going to be 2nd half Rex Knight for the entire season. Curt Wells is 35. And there's just no replacing Chris Valenzuela.

Whats do you think about your own team?
Still have no idea how we win, but, I think we're better than we were last year. I think my bullpen might be the best ever in the BLB. But I don't have a ton of faith in any SP after Jody Richards and Heath, who might be due for a rough year. Guzman is hanging on by a thread. Aten has a lot of potential but might not be there yet. Dugan is, well, Dugan.

On offense, we move Corral and replace him with a young kid around the top 100, Ron Barber. I think it's a slight downgrade offensively, but it might wash if he can play some D. Wessin Ramirez comes in to DH against RHP, it's an expensive DH but I think he'll really add some more pop to our lineup. Big fan of this kid in PHI.