2022 Team Previews

[Pat]

Moneyball: The 2022 Seattle Pilots



What's New? Winning in Free-Agency

Seattle entered the past three off-seasons with more than $50M in budget room. In 2020, they missed on Jaylen Mitchell, Edwin Carrasco, Danny Garcia and Alex Dominguez, setting for small rental pieces. In 2021, they missed on Hoon Park, Ruben Ortega, Bill Roman and Marco Rosaro, ending up giving Ricky Murillo $28M. Determined to not fail again, the Pilots signed two international hitters in Manny Nieto and Andy Ulloa. They are now the 1st and 3rd highest paid players in the entire BLB.


Calling Card? Youth

40 players will attend Seattle Spring Training. 36 are under 30-years-old. 23 are 25 or under. The two oldest players, Bob Carillo (33) and Johnny McDaniel (32), are far from locks to even make the 25-man roster. This is probably the youngest team in the BLB and growing pains should be rampant.


Kryptonite? Pitching

The rotation ranks dead last in the BLB in positional strength and the bullpen might even be weaker. Only three pitchers out of 19 to make the Spring Training roster are being paid more than the league minimum and only one is a lock to make the roster. There are however ten former top 100 prospects getting an invited, including former #1 overall pick Tom "Domino" King.


In the System? Lots of hitters...finally

Of the Seattle's top 20 prospects, 16 are hitters and only four of which are in Single-A. The system has been top 5 for years but has always been heavy pitching.


Player to Watch? 1B Andy Ulloa and OF Manny Nieto

The off-season headliner grabbers will be under heavy scrutiny from the rest of the BLB. Ulloa, the 30-year-old from Nicaragua, continues to climb the OSA ranks of 1B and Top Players Lists. Now the 3rd best 1B and 17th overall hitter, Ulloa enters the year with huge expectations. OSA ranks Ulloa as one of only three players with an "8" on power and the only switch-hitter. Nieto, the 21-year-old from Puerto Rico, only ranks as the 10th best LF but as the 16th ranked prospect in the BLB, he is being paid more on potential.


Magic 8-Ball Answers: Does Seattle have the firepower to compete for a Wild Card? Seems unlikely Prediction: 76-86, 4th in Bock

Phoenix, Windy City, Washington and Baltimore are playoff locks, barring an unforeseen tragedy. That leaves Seattle to compete with Denver, New York, Carolina, Philly and Batavia for the final two Wild Card spots. After suffering through two straight years as the BLB's worst team, an upswing, and potentially large one, seems very likely for the Pilots. But to be a legit WC contender, Seattle would probably have to increase their win total by at least 25 wins to even be .500, (57-105 in 2021). That seems like a stretch to me.

[PaulC]

The 2022 California Kodiaks

What's New? Rounding out the roster

For the first time in a long time, we were looking to add pieces to our roster to supplement actual BLB talent. Adding a catcher to please the owner and hit against righties, and a high intangible utility infielder to help give rest to a very young group of infielders hopefully will support a pitching that last year was one of the best in the BLB.

Calling Card? Same as last year

The focus is California will again be pitching and defence. We are returning the entire pitching staff intact and have not really lost much in the way of defence either. Hopefully last proves to not be a fluke and again the pitching staff leads an offence which does not have a lot of elite power bats.

Kryptonite? Youth...

The core of our team is 26 and under. They received a lot of experience last year and hopefully can build on it, instead of having a hangover from last year's success. Broughton, Brouwer, and Bradford hopefully each take the next step toward becoming legitimate BLB top of the rotation starters.

In the System?

Nothing... We traded the last of our pieces or have brought up almost everyone of substance in the last two years.

Player to Watch?

As always, the team will go as Morla goes. Even though we won 100 games last year, we continue to receive no love in the Top Hitters and Top Pitchers listings. Hopefully Morla continues the path he has blazed so for in his young BLB career.

Magic 8-Ball Answers

Prediction 91-71 and a wild card seed in the DL. The DL is full of great teams... Hopefully 91 wins is reached and allows us to make the playoffs for the second year in a row.

[mike]

2022 Pittsburgh Millers


What's New? New faces
Fresh off another playoff appearance, and the subsequent horrific playoff loss that follows each and every season, the Millers enter the new season with mainly the same core of players. The team is built around superstar Jamie O'Hearn, who is coming off his first stout slugger award. This year there should be three players in the opening day lineup for the first time, 3B Joey Cook, C Dave Girard and CF Dave Dillavou. All three have already made their big league debut but they are regular starters for the first time.

Gone is Ian Lofink, last season's offseason acquisition from Dallas, and entering the fold is potential Hall of Fame Closer Diego Lovera. He and Tom Murray are projected to be the late inning options for the Millers bullpen this season, which could be a Cody Allen/Andrew Miller type bullpen, or at least we hope.

Calling Card? It's Pittsburgh, we hit.
The opening day lineup is currently penciled in as 2B Vickers, SS Skolfield, 1B Stoll, RF O'Hearn. LF Garcia, 3B Cook, DH Marcus, C Girard, CF Dillavou. That should once again score a lot of runs.


Kryptonite? Ghosts
The team will more than likely make the playoffs this season, or at least battle for a spot, but we all know how it will end.


In the System? More talent
The team has some arms that are on the cusp of being contributors to the big league club in the shape of Pat Conlee and Ian McCormick and offensively there are some talented bats in the low minors. The gem of the system seems to be SS Geoff Kelly.


Player to Watch? Jamie O'Hearn
The guy to watch always for this team is O'Hearn. He's a bonafide superstar and following his career is worth admission.


[B]Magic 8-Ball Answers: 90-95 wins, loss in the playoffs.

[Guest]

What's New?
Nothing much. SP Pat Tortorici and 2B Pat Wayman are the only two notable departures. No outside free agents were signed, but we were able to sign SP Dave Baldwin to a 3 year extension.

Calling Card
The pitching. Even with Tortorici leaving, the staff remains steady with the return of Roman, Baldwin, Maurer, and Cook. Dave Krah should slot into the rotation after an impressive showing in September. The bullpen will be anchored by the reigning DL Last Call winner Marco Rosaro, with Stillwell and Davidson setting him up.

Kryptonite
Probably going to be the offense, although there is room for improvement. Only one hitter in the projected lineup will be in their 30's this year (B.J. Brazeel), but most of the young guys have yet to tap into their full power potential. Outside of Brazeel and Abdul Clemons, there may not be a consistent power threat on the team unless the younger guys step up.

In The System
Quite a lot, actually. SP's Ace McDaniel, Caleb Bracken, and Dave Patterson will begin the year in AAA and could potentially be called upon if someone on the big league staff struggles. RP Dante Elliott will close for Fort Wayne, and we'll hope to get him up as soon as possible to form my Hydra Bullpen with Stillwell and Rosaro. Another AAA prospect to watch is RF Gordie Joiner. Still very young for his level, he has a chance to be a late season call up if his performance warrants it.

Player to Watch
1B Tommy Corr. The 5th overall pick in the 2019 draft struggled in his first full season as a Racer, but appeared to gain traction later in the season before a hamstring injury sidelined him. Corr developing and reaching his potential would be a huge boost to our offense and overall chances of contending.

[Andrew]

What's New? Pitching

Kansas City didn't sign any free agents but greatly improved their pitching staff through the trade market. They added veteran Jimmy Cook and lefty Ian Lofink giving them two top of the rotation starters. BJ Swisher, one of the league's best closers, will anchor the bullpen allowing Franklin Ramires to move back into a setup role where he's more comfortable. The Comets are also hoping top pitching prospect Dave Cawley can make the jump to the BLB. It won't be the best pitching staff in the league but should be vastly improved over last year's team.


Calling Card? The Long Ball

Kansas City hit 239 homeruns last season, 2nd most all time in the BLB. They return with mostly the same lineup but with a full season of 3B Erik Jackson and the addition of C Erik MacDonough the Comets will look to challange Pittsburgh's 2010 total of 241 homeruns.


Kryptonite? Facing Lefties

There's no doubt Kansas City has a great lineup but they could be vulnerable against lefthanded pitching. They feature three lefty outfielders - CJ Viger, Dave McClain and Tom Clark - while switch hitters TJ Corbett and Erik MacDonough also fare better from the left side of the plate. The loss of 1B Joey Walz for most of the season further complicates this issue for the Comets.


In the System? Viva Las Vegas

Death Valley sports the league's top ranked minor league system chock-full of former Comets' prospects. SP Jamie Steele, IF Dave Flatland, OF Kevin Quinney and RP Kevin Hurley were all traded in deals to acquire Erik Jackson, Dave Calvert, Franklin Ramires and BJ Swisher. Between the trades and top prospects Erik MacDonough and Dave Cawley making the jump to the BLB, Kansas City's system is greatly depleted. However, with the amount of young talent at the BLB level this shouldn't be too much of an issue for the Comets. Infielder Tommy Young is the best prospect remaining but don't be surprised if he's shopped at the trade deadline.


Player to Watch? SS TJ Corbett

Kansas City signed Corbett as a minor league free agent in 2018 so his breakout 2021 season may have surprised some people. Comets fans will be anxious to see whether he can repeat last year's performance and belongs in the discussion as one of the league's best shortstops.


Magic 8-Ball Answers: Will Kansas City make their first postseason appearance? Outlook good

Prediction: 90-72, 2nd in Lager

[Z]

Comets is an appropriate name for your club considering they fill the sky with streaking home run balls.

[Spear]

The 2022 Toronto Canadians


What's New? Winning Culture

We had our first Brewmaster's appearance last year and have made the playoffs for three straight years now. Our young core has been able to get some valuable experience every year in the bigs and advance a little farther. Could this be our year to finally capture the Cup?

Calling Card? Beer league offense

Our lineup has been built around offense, not defense and pitching. The bats will need to remain consistent and hot if we are going to retain our division title.

Kryptonite? Pitching

Losing Robertson to Tommy John surgery was a big blow. With little additions in the offseason, we head into the new year with a rotation led by McDade and Bires. After that, it's a bunch of crap on a wall. It's a combination of journeymen and a new wave of pitching prospects.


In the System? Pitching, Pitching, Pitching

We have a load of pitching prospects. After we developed and filled out the field. We made a point to draft a lot of arms. These arms are finally making their way up the organizational ranks. But their effectiveness is unknown.


Player to Watch? SS - David Perez

Although Tom Abrams proved he was capable of being the starting SS last year. We added some depth with international free agent David Perez. It's always interesting to see how these players make the transition and hopefully Perez can contribute.

An honorable mention in this category is also 3B Jamie Kitchen. Kitchen is only 22 years old and is entering his 4th full season. Some are saying Kitchen hasn't even scratched the surface of his talent. He was recently named to the top player list in the BLB and made some strides in the offseason to improve his game at the plate. Kitchen will try to set the table for the talented Toronto lineup this year.


Magic 8-Ball Answers: If Toronto's offense can carry a weak rotation/bullpen, we'll be division champs again

[funclown]

The 2022 Pawtucket Patriots


What's New? Basically a new pitching staff

Last year we acquired SP Brendan Watts at the deadline with my scout saying "Looks like an Ace to me" and he actually performed liked one. Half our top prospects Marco Carrasco , J.D. Einhorn and Dave Sloper will be joining Watts in the rotation. While all rated highly per OSA this group doesn't give me the same warm and fuzzy Talley, McDade, 'Cubby' Nishimura (Yes we had him once) and 'Beanpole' Mitchell gave me over a decade ago. SP Jamie Coffman will man the back of the rotation where he probably preforms better. Were hoping OF Dave Coady blossoms here in a more righty friendly park and we signed Dave Perkins to man the other side of the outfield. The lineup is a work in process right now and your gonna see youngsters roaming in and out AAA would be my guess. Its gonna be a transition year which is typical with rebuilding teams.

Calling Card? Maybe bullpen/ Roster movement??

We feel good about Ted Hatch in the closer role though being honest setup might be his best spot. Wilson Mercado will be expected to log some serious innings in the MR spot. J.D. Robillard was resigned to sit in our setup role where when put in this postion in the past played well. Jimmy Fulton, Hashimoto and Romar to go along with one or two others competing for spots to round it all out. Overall feeling good about this group, but the simple fact I'm saying bullpen is our calling card is kind of sad.

Kryptonite? Power, offense, youth

We took some steps with bring some players in who can draw a walk and overall not strikeout at much, but we only added C Tom Padgett just recently who on paper shows any type of power. Youngsters Schara & Trausch could perhaps come up to help out, but thinking they are both still a year away. Perkins brings some amount of hitting for average on this team, but overall the offense is very much a work in progress. I except us to be at the bottom ranking for runs per game. Its weird saying this after being the GM of Pawtucket for so long , but right now we are a small ball team.


In the System? Surprisingly loaded system

Considering most of our prospects are 2nd round picks and not the top 5 first rounders that normally gets you a top 5 system. Still 3 pitchers will fall off after just one regular seasons week. With that we still have 3 younger top pitching prospects that are worth keeping an eye on. Hitting has been hard to get a finger on. We appear to have decent prospects at the IF spot, we have a billion catchers with 2-3 showing signs of popping. Outfield not so good and most our years away. Of course Pawtucket rarely develops bullpen arms Swisher being the last one. We have the #6th pick coming up and two second rounders so we need to hit on those this season.

Player to Watch? SP Marco Carrasco

Only lefty starting prospect we got and for all this rebuilding in the future he has to make it. #2 preferred and worst case a solid #3. I'll be watching all 3 starters, but we gave up 3B Jimmy Lee in order to land this guy and his performance at the BLB level basically measures the success of the trade.

Magic 8-Ball Answers: A ton of "what iffs" here, but some reason feeling optimistic. Were not good yet, but as stated before feels like the needle is pointing in the right direction. Were a year away from freeing up a shit ton of money and getting least a few more bats thru the minors. Still.....74-88. Sticking to my guns on this.

[Andrew]

We feel good about Ted Hatch in the closer role though being honest setup might be his best spot.

Did Hatch give you a hard time about being in the bullpen last year despite being promised a starting role? On a side note, you should win a GM award for that trade.

[funclown]

Did Hatch give you a hard time about being in the bullpen last year despite being promised a starting role? On a side note, you should win a GM award for that trade.

Last year we had him in the set-up role and yes he wasn't happy with it. (Got his email) However, he did ok.

After starting for all of 2020 and most of 2021 I think its gonna take time. If we can actually win some games....its alot like money. Money tends to mask alot of issues.

[Spear]

Did Hatch give you a hard time about being in the bullpen last year despite being promised a starting role? On a side note, you should win a GM award for that trade.

The trade was a pure salary dump on our part. We knew we were giving up a lot but had to clear the books for a number of extensions coming up, including the Owens one this past offseason.

[funclown]

The trade was a pure salary dump on our part. We knew we were giving up a lot but had to clear the books for a number of extensions coming up, including the Owens one this past offseason.

And last time I checked you went to the Brewmaster and we picked 6th. It worked out for both.

[liquidcrash]

2022 Washington Bats

What's New? Less depth in the rotation. Shuffling of lineup.

Most of the key pieces from the Washington’s back-to-back-to-back Stout championships are still in place. But, the offseason saw the departure of Jaylen Mitchell to the super-team in Phoenix and Jamie Urmson’s second stint in DC last only one season. To fill a hole in the infield, Jimmy Douglas was brought in from Montreal. Hitting for average was a weak spot for the team last season, but Douglas should be able to help.

The 2021 Bats gave up the fewest runs in BLB history, but with Mitchell and Honea gone from the rotation, that performance will not be repeated.

Calling Card? Star Power

Perhaps no team in the league can match the headliners Ed Carroll and Geoff Yonke. Over the past two years, the two have combined for 37.6 WAR, each easily leading the league for hitters and pitchers. Back to back winners of the Stout Slugger and Pale Ale awards. Both are 28 years old and under contract for the rest of the primes.

Kryptonite? Injuries.

We’re not even to Opening Day, but Washington is already down two starters for the season. Seth Herrington was mercilessly beaten in a bar room brawl and will be out until September. Dave Honea won 24 games last season, but won’t be able to repeat that performance from the DL.

The team also falls apart once the postseason begins, but we’ll worry about that once we get there.

In the System? Speed.

A lot of the Bats’ top prospects have been shipped out in the past few seasons, so the system isn’t ranked as highly as it has been. Milt Dearborn and Kazufumi Fujii are the top names amongst hitting prospects, with each possessing blazing speed on the bases. With the exception of slow-footed 1B Jimmy Harris, the Bats hitting prospects are all good runners.

Player to Watch?

The obvious answers are Yonke and Carroll, but Tom Roseboom could be a key for this team. He’s rated amongst the best hitters in the league, but hasn’t yet shown he can be a real force at the plate. If he can turn it up a notch at the plate to go along with his base stealing and defensive abilities, he could be one of the best players in the league.

Magic 8-Ball Answers: Will the Bats make if 4 straight division titles?

Outlook good. Sure, why not?

We lost some important pieces and the injuries have already begun, but there’s still enough talent here to think this team can compete at the top of the division.