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Pilsner Division
Divisional Rank: #1 in Domestic League (#1 in BLB)
Denver Bulls
Finish: 1<sup>st</sup> in Pilsner
Shavermetrics Rank (DL): #2
What We Like: The Pen is Mightier – While people laughed as the Bulls signed reliever after reliever this off-season, the bottom line is they come into the 1992 season with an airtight bullpen filled with Veteran performers. Though some may have lost a little zip on their fastball, when you have over 1200 career saves in your ‘pen, your starters suddenly have a little wiggle room.
What We Fear: The Cap – The downside to loading up on Veteran relievers is that they pushed the Bulls’ salary cap number all the way up to $92.0. While safely under, they may have handcuffed themselves for deadline deals or early season deals should some of their big bats come up lame. With injury history of Romo and Browning, and the spring training knick to Zamarida, they’ll be holding their collective breath in Denver.
What To Watch: Short-order Cook – T.J. Cook looks to be another fast-track ’91 draftee that should see action this season. Though he may not get the call directly out of Spring Training, he’ll no doubt be part of the Bulls’ rotation before the end of the year.
Indianapolis Clowns
Finish: 2<sup>nd</sup> in Pilsner – DL Wildcard
Shavermetrics Rank (DL): #3
What We Like: Paper Champions – While we’re yet to see how it translates on the field, the Clowns appear to have one of the best starting rotations in the DL – on paper. Though Manny Mendez appeared to be ready to take on the full-time ACE role, Indy went out and added Ben Irvin and Ezequiel Parongao in the off-season. However, the one to watch may be Raul Gonzalez. Gonzalez with the key prospect in the 1989 deal that sent Everardo Gremades from Indy to Virginia.
What We Fear: Great Expectations – It’s hard to find a lot of holes on this team. Rotation looks solid. ‘Pen is fine. They have one of the best players in the DL anchoring their lineup. They’re financially sound. They’re coming off an 89 win season. The team is in good shape. It may be that the only team that can take down the Clowns… are the Clowns.
What To Watch: Good Knight, Indy! – It’s hard to argue that Rex Knight isn’t the brightest young offensive star in the BLB. But, with his new 4 year extension, some fear that the 27 year old OF could get lazy. And do we dare the mention the dreaded “CF Curse” that “Thrifty” has managed to duck in his first 5 seasons?
Syracuse Slammers
Finish: 3<sup>rd</sup> in Pilsner
Shavermetrics Rank (DL): #5
What We Like: Go For It – It’s hard to ever complain about a team that goes for it in the BLB. The Slammers have clearly taken that tact this off-season in making blockbuster deals all winter to bring in perennial All-Stars like Geoff Scott and Conan Wilkerson. Revamping his team almost from top to bottom, program AND jersey sales should be at an all-time high in Syracuse this season.
What We Fear: It’s Not How You Start, It’s How You Finish – While the offense and the rotation in Syracuse look solid, Shavermetrics has real concern about what this team can and will do in innings 7, 8 and 9. With the talent in this division, the ability to close the door after a quality start will be imperative to claiming a playoff spot. That’s where our numbers show the Slammers falling short of the “second season.”
What To Watch: Change of Address – Scott and Wilkerson jump from the IL to the DL in moves that will be watched closely due to their stature. While talented players have made that jump later in their career, this may be the first major move for players of this caliber in their primes. Conventional wisdom says the Wilkerson should improve dramatically, however, the extra innings do put his “fragile” tag in question.
Dallas Snappers
Finish: 4th in Pilsner
Shavermetrics Rank (DL): #9
What We Like: Fresh Start – The Snappers starting rotation was what held them back in ’91. Outside of Superstar Denver Brode, Big D needed to make improvements across the board. They addressed that need by bringing in three new members to the rotation – Ivan Perez, Jerry Collins and Art Casey – all of whom have the potential for double-digit wins. If Brode can anchor the Staff, they could have enough offense to sneak up on some teams. However, the Pilsner division may be too high a mountain to climb to sniff the playoffs.
What We Fear: Burnout – Dallas had a rough off-season. When some important paperwork was not filed on time, they were left in a mad scramble to deal some of their highest level prospects. Though they managed to parlay that error into some quality talent, it left their immediate future a little shell-shocked. Combine that with what could potentially long season getting knocked around in their division, the Snappers will need to be patient and learn to take a punch.
What To Watch: Rule V Revenge – While the Rule V draft incident hit the Dallas farm system hard, it also brought a former 4<sup>th</sup> overall pick to the Lonestar State with the Snappers acquisition of CF Rod Miners. Though tagged as injury-prone, Miners still has the raw skills to produce at this level.
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