Season 22 - Team Previews - Batch 2

Memphis Tigers 
Key Acquisitions: None
Key Players Lost: Carter Stern SP
After reaching the NLCS in season 20, the Tigers and their fans suffered a disappointing setback last year, finishing last in the NL south. With Memphis fighting most of last season trying to claw their way from the bottom, Management went into the offseason hoping to add a couple of pieces in order to make another playoff run, only to come up short on several of their targets. The Tigers were however able to pick up RP Cody Harmon off waivers to provide help in the bullpen and Rule 5 Draftee Riku Martin 1B/COF to provide much needed power off the bench or in a platoon. This years pitching staff will be young and inexperienced with Lonny Andujar taking Sterns spot in the rotation. While the starting lineup has a familiar look that could see Buck Watson starting the season with the big league club. As always, Tiger fans will remain optimistic to start the season, but should know fairly soon what kind of season they will have to endure. 

Texas Tech Red Raiders
The major move of the offseason was to resign Michael Shumpert and make sure he ends his career in Texas. A number of veterans were signed to fill in the roster, but no major moves. The Red Raiders should be a mediocre team again this season as the franchise gears up for a rebuild. Playing in a weak division, its possible that we'll get luck and Seneca and Shumpert will get one more chance to make a playoff run.

Anaheim Trojans
Last Year's Record: 71-91
Projected Record: 77-85

Added: Buzz Beinre - will take over as closer.

Losses: Martin Dresden SP(Little Rock), Eric Mullin DH, Miguel Rodriguez C, Vladimer Quinones RF

Rookies to be called up: Dexter Robinson SP, D'Angelo Marandona RP, and Albert Neal SP, Steve Lombardi C

We are hoping this is the year things start to turn around in Anaheim. With 8-10 players expected to be promoted in the next 2 years and a ton of cap space this franchise should be contending soon. The bullpen was a total disaster last year so I was happy to grab a decent closer at a reasonable price. It should be interesting to see how the young staff performs this year. Not too optimistic about the offense.

Nashville Commodores
After making the playoffs 9 out of the last 10 seasons, but losing in the first round 8 times, it's rebuilding time in Nashville.


The Commodores traded away top talent for prospects to start the rebuild and brought in FA pitchers Javier Sanchez, Greg Padden, David Saito and Stuart Schrenk as well as CF Theo Franco and C's Frank Rowand and Tomas Lira. Harry Albaladejo, acquired in a trade, will take over at 2B.


The Commodores hope to remain competitive in the AL south while building a team that can compete in the playoffs. However, this season .500 would be an accomplishment.

Richmond Spiders 
We returned to the top of the division last season, but it wasn’t exactly a convincing return, going 81-81. Much more was expected last season, but things just never got rolling. The expectations remain high this season as more pieces will be added to the young roster. Everyone of significance returns except C Benji Franco, who was moved out via trade. That open spot will go to prospect Davey Latos, who should be an upgrade both offensively and defensively. Former 1st-rd pick Henry Knight will be promoted to play 2B/CF.

The biggest addition is the trade for potential ace Trent Keefe. It cost a couple pretty good prospects, but adding Keefe, who is still in his prime and has ace potential, was a big move for us. He should really improve the rotation and help us match up a little better should we make the playoffs again.

Prospect Ralph Small lurks in the minors. He could hit in the majors today, but his ticket to the big league club will be cashed in once he can play a little better 3B. If that happens by the end of the season, he may get called up for a late season push.

There are high expectations in Richmond to take the next step up from mediocrity into the upper tier of the league. The team will need to avoid another disappointment and step up to meet those expectations.
New York Red Storm 
Key Losses: Buzz Beirne, Milton Hermanson, Geoff Snyder (trade)

Key Additions: Odalis Velazquez

Call-ups: Footsie Womack, Alexi Nunez (trade)

Outlook: After a surprise playoff appearance as a wild card team last year and a 16 game improvement, the Red Storm youngsters are looking to make some noise again this year with the addition of Velaquez and the call-up of Footsie Womack. We lost some power with Hermanson splitting, poise at the back end of the bullpen with Beirne's departure and the trade of Snyder, but upper management feels that we have the pieces in place to more than adequately replace them. We hope to contend for the division this year with the hopes that an extra year of seasoning for the young guns will allow us to push further into the post-season.
Salem Beavers 
Departures
Starting SS Bartolo Estrada, 31 – Type B Signed by Helena 1 yr @ $6M, Having a SS ready to go in AAA let Estrada walk saving quite a bit of money for a near identical replacement and picking up a Type B pick.


RF/3B - Chico Tavarez, 35 – Unsigned, Declined and will never play another MLB game


vRHP platoon RF Cyrus Connelly, 37 – Unsigned, Declined and will never play another MLB game
Backup SS Willis Brock, 35 – Unsigned, Declined and will never play another MLB game


vLHP platoon LF Raymond Nixon, 33 – Unsigned, Could still be useful vLHP platoon guy but I opted for guys with more defensive skill.


Part-time 3B Willie Berroa, 33 – Signed by Helena 1 yr @ $3M, Signed some better hitting 3B/RF guys and also have guy ready in AAA.
Backup C Edgar Guillon, 36 - Unsigned, Declined and will never play another MLB game


SP Clay Hausmann, 37 – Type A Signed by Columbus 4 yrs $28.3M, Was the best pitcher on team for the last two seasons and didn’t want to lose him but was unwilling to give the contract duration he received and couldn’t match total contract amount.


RP George Stokes, 32 – Unsigned, Was a previous late free agency bargain signing and was not that good.


RP Virgil Macias, 34 – Unsigned, Was a previous late free agency bargain signing and was not that good.


RP Pat Gibbons, 39 – Unsigned, Put a fork in him.
Arrivals


vLHP Platoon C Ray King, 35 – 1 yr @ $1.6M: Cheap backup option with a very good OBP bat. With my the low durability of my top option, he will get the regular season starts vLHP.


3B/RF Vasco Mendoza, 34 – Type B 2 yr @ $4.8M: Solid bat will get time in 3B and RF.


vLHP SS Joe Blank, 31 – 2 yr @ $1.8M: Good defense, typical SS bat. Will be the guy until after game 20 when he becomes the vLHP platoon. Will also be used to fill in on occasion in CF or 2B.


RF Milton Hermanson, 32 – Type B 4 yr @ $6M: Very good bat and can also play 3B if needed. Will be a big upgrade offensively and defensively compared to last season.


SP Willie Izturis, 31 – Trade with Nashville: Gave up a couple of solid young prospects for an ace that this team has needed to make the next step in the postseason. Huge upgrade as the #1 starter.


SP Tony Telemaco, 33 – GM Declined Option 5 yrs $92M: Not being able to pony up the $110M for Shumpert, Telemaco 
was signed as the next option. He should be a good upgrade as either our #2 or #3 starter.


SP Dante Li, 34 – Type A 5 yrs @ $4.9M: Considering how well he has performed at the hitter’s park in Dover, this was a massive bargain signing that I expect to yield the absolute most bang for the buck of any of my signings. Will be competing for the #2 playoff rotation role.


Minor League Call-ups


3B/RF Willie Guerrero, 22 – A ML average bat with decent defensive skills. Will be part of my three headed 3B/RF trio with Mendoza and Hermanson, since none have the durability to play every day.


vRHP SS Ahmad Lansing, 23 – Was ready last season but had Estrada blocking the way. Great defense, standard SS offense.


LF Jimmie Delgado, 21 – Not yet developing but need him now to fill the spot for payroll purposes. Should be an above average ML hitter, probably average to a little below for COF.


RP Earl Jensen, 21 – Very good short outing reliever that could pitch an inning every other day.
Season Outlook


The offense, which was slightly above average in the AL last season, should have a similar output as last season and score enough runs to compete every night. With Hermanson, the Beavers finally have a third big bat to go along with Acosta and Shigetoshi.


Defensively, the Beavers will continue to be brilliant up the middle with Lansing/Blank at SS, Aguilera at 2B, and Torres in CF. With the new additions, an above average defense should improve to be one of the best in the league.
I started with the top performing pitching staff in the AL, let one stud SP and three poor performing relievers walk and brought in three stud SPs and one stud RP. I believe I have assembled the deepest pitching staff in the majors. I fear that with the failure to sign Shumpert, we still may lack the marquee guy to get us over the hump, but Izturis, Telemaco, and Li will be great additions that give us six starting pitchers that all would probably have a place in the rotation for any other team. I still haven’t made up my mind completely if it will be Schneider or Komatsu as the odd man out.
We were very active this offseason and all of the effort was an attempt to assemble the talent needed to finally end the Gophers stranglehold on the AL. Anything short of a 100+ win season and a trip to the World Series will be a disappointment. This team as currently constructed as a three season window of opportunity as Izturis will be an expensive FA after that.

Oakland Golden Bears
Oakland made a big jump in our rebuilding effort as we finally made the playoffs and showed a real turnaround on the field. We tried to make some big splashes in Free Agency, however we got out spent for a few of the options we were looking at. The biggest fish that got away was Tony Telemaco who ended up signing with Salem who won our division last season and should be the favorite to do so again this season.

As for the players that we added to this seasons roster: Luis Duran and Ajax Goldstein should give us some added bullpen support. We got Mark Glover in a trade with Fargo for future All Star reliever Freddy Barrett. Not sure Glover will have much left in the tank for the Golden Bears, but after not getting much in starters during FA, we had to take a chance.

Jose Gandarilla should give us some added defense in CF. The Oakland front office is extremely excited to have Juan Rojas making his ML debut this season at DH. Rojas should bring some added long ball power in a pitchers park that will hopefully bring us some extra wins as well.

Dover Fightin' Blue Hens
Dover did not make wholesale changes even though the team underperformed last year. Dante Li would not re-sign with the club last year or during the offseason, and the director of player personnel was on a cruise during free agent signings, so Li went elsewhere for a mere $4.9 mil. He will be hard to replace. Dover is continuing to build from the minors, so a playoff spot is the best that can be hoped for. The Blue Hens added Rule 5 pitcher Albert Cedeno and he looks developed enough to contribute. First round pick Patrick Scharein will join an already solid bullpen.

Columbus Buckeyes
Columbus, OH- The natives are growing restless in Columbus and are expecting a return to the playoffs this season. Manager tdfactory got off to a good start in his stint at Columbus and made the playoffs in year 3 for the first time in franchise history but has not been back since. The last 3 years have been a letdown and the fans want wins! On a positive side, the Bucks have had there best 6 year stretch ever and have finished 2nd in the division in 4 of tdfactory's 6 years. 

Players Departing- P Carlos Encarnacion, P Haywood Young, P Mule Wells, P Shawn Beaulac, P Alex Jackson (option not exercised), CF Alberto ANdrus, SS Ricardo Ramirez

Players Added: P Harvey Ennis (Waivers), P Clay Hausmann, P Andres Rosario, 1B Danny Sheffield, CF Everett Wood, 

Up from the Farm- P Placido Romero, P Stephen Harvey

Down on the Farm- Possible Call Up in Season 22- CF Freddie Urich

Tdfactory shook up the team a bit in FA, letting a good chunk of the pitching staff walk and bringing in some new arms to Columbus. Also, another bat was needed and 1B Danny Sheffield was added through trade for a prospect. Columbus chased Telemaco, but the sweepstakes became too rich, so they pulled out to focus on other targets. The team is happy with the additions, however one set back has already occurred with CF Everett Wood sustaining an ankle injury on the 2nd to last day of ST and he is out for 75 days. It is possible tdf could bring up prospect CF Freddie Urich to help fill in, but with no AAA experience yet, it is likely he will stay down until next season. Former 1st rounder Stephen Harvey joins the pen as well as home grown propsect P Placido Romero. If the new adds can gel with some of the young talent on the Buckeyes, a playoff run is not out of the question. Go Bucks!

Season 22 Team Previews - Batch 1

First Ten Previews posted below.  Thanks to all of those who got them in so quickly.  Let's get some more in!

Charlotte Tar Heels

Our tongue in cheek goal is have the top record in the world and then lose to a team in the playoffs who finished 15-25 games worse than us record wise which has happened most of the last 5 seasons.  So we've been very successful in that regard.  More seriously our goal is the same as always...enjoy the heck out of the regular season, hopefully win the division and earn a bye in the playoffs and then make a bet to see who will upset us in the playoffs.

We didn't lose too much from last season.  Vic iglesias was not re-signed after asking for a lot in arb, but was then signed long term by another team so good for him, he cashed in.  Other than a couple inning eater arms in the bullpen, there won't be a lot of change from a team who led the world in most key pitching, hitting, and fielding categories.

Long term this team is starting to age.  Realistically our window is 2-5 more seasons depending on a host of factors.  We're doing our best to keep control of the payroll with massive signing bonuses to limit the annual salaries and not re-signing secondary and tertiary players, but its starting to inch up.  There have been some internal arguments about moving some of they vets in their prime for some prospects to keep the franchise rolling long term at a high level, but we've become too attached to many of our top guys.  Should be a fun season.

Philadelphia Owls

Philadelphia Owls Players Lost : Pitcher Javier Sanchez and SS/RF Hunter Keough. 

New players: SP Ismael Martinez, P Vic Iglesias and P Tommie Osbourne.

Rookies expected to contribute: SS Juan Dali, LF Derek Randolph and 2B Terrell Kelly .

This season, Owls are hoping for a better result than last year. Offensively, the team will again, count on MVP third baseman Frieri Santiago, CF Carlton Brooks platooning with Al Petit, veteran Miller Kotsay also platooning with Julio Nunez at 1B, C Terry Lee and DH Everth Manzanillo. But 2 rookies, Juan Dali at short and Terrell Kelly at 2B should help the offense. The rotation, lead by Carlos Martinez, is this year again, a question mark. We hope the arrival of 3 newcomers, Ismael Martinez, lefty Tommy Osbourne and Vic Iglesias will help stabilize this rotation. In the bullpen, everybody's back, it should be more than OK.

The future though, looks bright with SP Vernon Black(1 yeay away), LF Benji Guzman, lefty SP Brad Cunningham, another lefty SP Marino Megias, SS Domingo Fernandez, CF Julio Cueto and DH Dusty Malone. 

Don't be desperate Owls fans, we will send a better team on the field this season. 

Iowa City Hawkeyes

Iowa gave up on a couple of players from last year. Not key players but I needed to fill some holes this offseason. So by making a position change to one player and the signings of RF Yorman Costilla and CF Fergie Cromer, along with returning franchise players like Justin Crosby, Jack Nicholas and Neil McCallum I think we should be OK with offence and defence.

However the pitching is still suspect, I am hoping with another year under their belts that my young pitchers will improve and change the dynamic of my pitching staff as well I still have a great closer in Dustin Watson and I signed veteran SP Jake Randolph for leadership. Still I believe I need 1 more starter to be competitive and am trying with a limited budget to find one more via trade. Hopefully it all comes together this year for Iowa.

Cincinnati Bearcats

The Cincinnati Bearcats embark on season 22 after a season 21 17 game improvement over season 20. That is the extent of the good news. Bad news is that the Bearcats lost more than they won in season 22. The Gophers will continue to be the elephant in the room, the Bison are certain to improve and it is expected that the sleeping giants (the Ducks) will be aroused from their slumber. Old pro and certain Hall of Famer, Enrique Sojo, is gone, as are Hamlet Darwin, Joaquin Gonzales, and Torey Vizquel. Those 61 homers and 205 rbis will not be replaced by the Bearcats only FA addition, defensive specialist Jerry Hume. If ground can be made up, the Bearcats expect improvement from second year players Felipe Barrios, Willard Perez, Danny Gibson, Sal Beltre, and Ren Lee. Honing skills at AAA are Rick Arias, Andres James, Jalal Bowman, Albie Gomes, and Len Whitesell. All could join the big club during the season and all are expected to be solid major league contributors. 

Recent drafts have resulted in more misses than hits and the 'Cats have not done well with FA signings or IFAs. The current system screams mediocrity. It is expected that the turn around will begin in earnest this season; but,positive results are somewhere in the future.

Detroit Wolverines

S21: 61 -101 (4th in NL North)

Wolverine fans are getting tired of watching their baseball team stuck in the Rich Rod era and management is on the hot seat this season. Last season we brought up three key pieces on offense in Keith Petersen, Marshall Washington and Douglas Lawrie. Lawrie was the only one to perform decent at the plate which sent us back down to the worst record in MLB. This FA we lost 4 pitchers so we hit the market obtaining 3 Type A pitchers in Fausto Gimenez, Jay Rhodes, and Miguel Barcelo. They should help strengthen our staff and keep us close in games. Brutus Olmos is also getting called up to take over 2B to help with some offense. Our young guys did improve ratings from their call up so we're hoping that they preform better than last year and more in line with their ratings. We've also let them know, along with all other managers in the league, that everyone is on the trading block if it will help better our team.

Charleston Cougars

Charleston lost two key players to free agency this offseason, 3b Odalis Velaquez and SP Fred Keppel. However, a trade with Helena to bring in SP Efrain Nakano and 3b Geraldo Arias should mitigate the damage. Charleston also picked up SS Macier James in free agency.

Charleston hopes to contend this year with a rotation led by Eswalin Sierra and backed by Nakano and David Rodriguez. Saul Martin, Miguel Certa, Donn Rodgers and Craig Parrish will lead a potent lineup. With too many DH types, Charleston may face challenges in the field as they will likely utilize players such as Rodgers and Mark Komatsu in Right Field. 

Boise Broncos

The Broncos have lofty goals set for the coming season. The strength of the team will be its deep and talented pitching staff lead by rising stars, Carlos Jose and Max Chavez and anchored by veteran starters Marc Westmoreland and Chris Dawkins. The rotation will be supported by one of the best bullpens in the league. On offense (last year’s biggest problem) we’ve added leadoff hitter Herm O’Shea thru free agency and 3b Casey Keller by way of trade. These additions, together with a full season with Gorkys James and Alex carter and another year with rising star Red Dreifort should provide the runs support need to make a move for the division title.

Arizona Wildcats

The new look Arizona Wildcats are hoping to improve on their 82 win season from last year. New veteran position players such as 1B Angel Sanchez, SS Jumbo Cortazar, CF Geoff Snyder, and RF Perry Abbott will hopefully stabilize the starting lineup and help support former no.1 overall pick Doug Treadway when he makes his ML debut this season. 

The pitching staff also has a few new faces and the Wildcats hope to rely on a pair of 36 year old newcomers in Kevin Ryu and Alvin Barnes to hopefully give Arizona a much improved starting rotation.

The team had a very average pitching staff and offense last season and we hope the surge of veteran talent can help us to contend in the playoffs this season.

Huntington Thundering Herd

After a season that ended 8 games under .500 despite a widely held belief that they would compete for a fifth division title, the Herd’s front office did some soul searching. Looking deep inside itself to determine what needed to happen to lead this organization to glory…yep, that’s right, the front office went fishing!

Pitching (15th in NL ERA)

The pitching staff was disappointing last season as bargain basement pickups failed to pan out. This season sees the return of only 4 pitchers and the addition of 7. While missing out on the big dogs, we still managed to add LHP Disuke Suzuki (222.0 IP, 19-6, 1.34 WHIP, 3.36 ERA), to the rotation that already boasted sub 1.30 WHIP guys in LHP Ralph Myette and RHP Cole Mitchell. RHP Dallas Parrott will return to the rotation while newcomer Joe Alexander will man the back-end. Nick Wilson, Alex Franco, Hod Ferrell, and Merv Witt join Steve Donovan and David Mathews in the bullpen. It should be a formidable bullpen of hard throwers.

Batting (6th in NL Runs)

The offense was full of solid hitters but still struggled to put up the runs we feel like it should have. Gone is perennial SS Jumbo Cortazar, 4th in franchise history in games played. In his place is youngster Rey Jung, who won’t perform to Jumbo’s offensive characteristics, but should outperform him defensively. Most of the offense returns, but in slightly different roles. Shane Meadows moves to RF to make room for new 1B Steve D’Amico. 3B Kevin Xaio adds flexibility and defense off the bench for 3B Mitchell Spencer. Gabe Price and Vasco Jose split LF. Strong CF Markus Crosby looks to break out in his 3rd BL season. Alex Pimentel and Benji Franco are going to platoon at C. Hopefully the offense out of that position goes well. Dante Itou and rule 5 selection Enrique Mendoza provide a strong bench. Robert Frederick returns to play 2B and probably bat 2nd. 

Buffalo Bulls

Key Additions: Joaquin Nunez (270 career wins, 2.42 Lifetime Era) Mitch Huckaby (Single Season Averages .273 28 HR 99RBI) Benny Jose (bench player)

Key Losses : Frank Jenkins(FA) 1B/LF, Scott Boswell LF (Helena), Tomas Lira C/DH (Nashville), Felipe Montanez(FA)SS Tommie Osbourne P (Philadelphia)

The Buffalo Bulls broke the club single season wins record for the 2nd season in a row with 94 . Unfortunately they couldn't get past the 2nd round of the playoffs as the Charlotte buzz saw cut them down again. The Bulls return almost the same exact team minus some role players, With their 2 young stud pitchers and the addition of Joaquin Nunez the Bulls have a pretty solid 1-3 Starters, add Mitch Huckaby manning one of the corner OF spots hopefully that it will be enough to push them over the top this season. The Bulls let go some of their older players which in turn has upgraded the defense and durability of the team. A playoff run wouldn't be out of the question with the same team returning.

Syracuse Orange

Players Lost: Michael Seay, Walt Rogers (Type B), Harry Piedra (Type B) Vasco Mendoza (Type B)

Players Added: Johnny Ryan (soon),Mario Hiljus (soon ), Saul Garrido (2b), Sandy Weiss (1b), Manuel Santayana (rp), Esmil Canseco (utility) (Rule 5)

The Orange are quite optimistic for season 22. We’re hoping a wild card can be achieved. Last year the team spent a good amount of time very near the top of the ERA lists. This year’s staff should be even better with the addition of star prospect Johnny Ryan. We also added a nice reliever in Manuel Santayana. Plus some of the kids have another year under their belt. 

Offense is what killed this squad last season. We simply could not score runs. If they had an average offense they would have been challenging for a wild card. 

We think we’ve made some changes that should indeed help that offense. Former #2 overall pick Mario Hiljus is expected to be on the team sometime this season. This actually may happen sooner probably more than later. Sandy Weiss should be a nice addition along with Saul Garrido and Esmil Canseco. A pretty decent catching prospect Rene Thornberry might see a promotion this season as well.