Kansas City Season 29 Preview

Season 28 : 92 – 70 record, 1st in the AL West
Lost to the WS winner, the Nashville Catfish 0 – 3 in Divisional Play In Series

IN : Harvey Davidson (2B); Jin Hyun (C); Bill Thomas (CF); Elroy Parker (SS); Odalis Zurbaran (DH/C); Gerardo Rosado (RP - acquired end of season 28) and Tim Newfield (RP - acquired end of season 28).

OUT : Stretch Fogg (RF); Walt Reid (LF); Vicente Perez (DH); Clark Malloy (CF); Benny Barker (MIF); Macbeth Pierce (RP) and Eddie Walsh (SP/RP).

The Royals reached the playoffs for the first time since Season 8 ! This year, the team expects tougher competition from the Rodeo Clowns and the Olmecs, both teams improving with key additions. The Halos won’t be an easy challenge either.

The starting pitching rotation should again be solid with :
Julian Guardado, Cy Young candidate and 18 game winner anchoring;
Harry McEnerney, could be # 1 on some teams;
Ozzie Tamura, 15 game winner on his first full ML season;
Clay Borbon, back from season ending surgery with future ace potential;
Clarence Glanville, one of the best 5th starter in the league.

The bullpen is lead by Cesar Beltre with 35 saves on a so-so year. It is believed that the acquisitions of Gerardo Rosado and Tim Newfield are a step in the right direction. We expect better results from the group.

The acquisition of high price FA Harvey Davidson alone is an improvement of the offense side. He’ll join Bill Adams; Ryan Wright and Christobal Baez to form a difficult line-up to face. The team fells that it can obtain 20 HR from FA Jin Hyun also. Odalis Zurbaran will start the year with the Royals, and is expected to contribute.

Davidson will be moved from SS to 2B, and with the addition of Bill Thomas and Elroy Parker, trigger a domino effect that will transform the team from an average fielding team to an above average one.

The team’s objective is not only to make the playoffs, but go deeper in them. But it won’t be easy, the AL West looks to be one of the tougher divisions in the Yaz world.

Nashville Season 29 Preview

Historically, the Nashville Catfish have not been one of the dominate teams in Yaz. Prior to last season, they had only won the division once, qualified for the playoffs only three times, and had never won more than 89 games in a season. However last season the team was finally able to break through, winning 94 games thanks to a late-season run and grabbed the #5 seed going into the playoffs. The Catfish rolled through the first two rounds, sweeping Kansas City and top ranked Chicago in 3 games. In the ALCS they defeated division rival Charlotte, and it is was on to their first ever World Series, where they met the 101 win Mexico City Jalapenos and their all-world starting rotation. It was a classic series and went the full seven before the Catfish were able to claim their first ever title.

So coming off their best season ever, what can this team do for an encore? The team is young and mostly intact from last season, but it did suffer the loss of the greatest Catfish ever, 3B Frtiz Blackwell. Blackwell hit .328 with a .403 OBP last season with 32 HR and 125 RBI on the way to winning the AL 3B Silver Slugger. Needless to say, he won't be easy to replace, but someone has to. Walt Sirotka was brought in via trade to replace him in the field, but probably not in this number 2 spot in the lineup. That will likely go to one of the free agent first basemen brought in to overhaul the position, Pinky Baez or Juan Rodriguez, although outfielder Vicente Hernandez and DH Tony Carrasco may have something to say about that. Other than at 1B and 3B, everyone else on offense returns, so as long as Blackwell can be replaced and 2B Bartolo Nieto can continue his 40+ HR hitting ways, the lineup is in great shape.

Pitching has never been the strongest aspect of the organization, but the team is getting some help from some rookies this season. Late-season call-ups SP Vance Hines and RP Neifi Diaz are ready for full-time duty after proving their worth during last year's playoff run. Look for Diaz to supplant veteran closer Willy Ginter this season, while Hines tries to transition from the bullpen to the rotation.

Thanks to the second big trade of the off-season, Louis Hill joins the rotation after coming over from Mexico City to replace Cookie Mesa. The rest of the rotation, Rudy Dale, Jason Jameson, Fred Guerrero and Brad Burks all return, with Burks likely the odd-man out and headed for the bullpen.

Given the returning talent on this team and the fact they look to have patched their biggest holes in the line-up, the front-office expects the Catfish to be another 90+ game winner and playoff contender.

Detroit Tiger Sharks Season 29 Preview

Felipe Villa grimaced and exhaled into the reporter’s face. He was asked for the hundredth time if he regretted re-signing with the Detroit Tiger Sharks after nine seasons away. Villa left Detroit after winning a World Championship in season 19 and won another with the Hosers after he signed a big-money contract with the Ottawa franchise. He’s not used to losing and he doesn’t like to talk about it. “I have no regrets coming back to Detroit- I really don’t” Villa said…but then he reached forward and whispered “…but I really don’t know if management knows what direction to take”.
Villa is not alone in questioning GM Feamster’s attempts to bring a title back to Detroit. While Montreal and Philadelphia made big off-season moves, Detroit could only show the signing of Oleg Bako as an improvement over last season.
The Tiger Sharks are in flux. As in most seasons, they are good enough to be competitive but not bad enough to improve through the draft. The future lies in the hands of C.C. Lary and Pete Connor, but the two heralded outfielders are several seasons away. A third big-time prospect, Philip Jackson, was recently promoted to take over CF duties, which means that former all-star Sammy Durham will be riding the pine before he gets traded. Bako takes over in LF and fan-favorite Ryan Miller returns as the right fielder. Miller may have the best arm of any right-fielder in the league.
Pitching will once again be a relative strong spot with a rotation headed by Luis Candelaria. Candelaria was once a can’t miss prospect, but his development has leveled off, and the 26 year old Mexican would be a number two or three starter on a good team. Zip Priest follows Villa in the rotation and is a serviceable number three starter. Ed Neal and Eduardo Cruz round out the five starters. Rule V pick Hal Lennon could force his way into the rotation with any kind of injury or poor performance from the aging starters.
The infield is strong up the middle with Delmon Grimsley and a combination of Josh Baker and Carlos Palmeiro at second. Palmeiro looks to have won the starting nod, but Baker has some better offensive potential. First and third are question marks, and are being help down by cast-offs from other teams. Dicky Gleason and his very unfriendly contract of 8.4 million is expected to see most of the action at first- which is good for Gleason, but bad for the Tiger Sharks. The hot corner is weak with 32 year old Albert Smart making the roster. Detroit is desperate for power and if Smart can tally 20 round trippers, he will have met his modest expectations.
Yorvit Gonzalez is back at catcher. Several seasons ago Detroit had an abundance of riches with two big time catching prospects. A decision to trade Zephyr Miles for Candelaria has not been worth the cost to the franchise and is another example of the second-guessing that is heard all through camp. Will Felipe Villa ever belong to another championship team? When asked that very question, the future hall of famer frowned, took the cigarette from his mouth- and gave a heavy sigh. “I don’t know- I’m 42 –er I mean I’m 38 years old- I don’t know how much is left in the tank”. Villa could very well earn another ring- but with another club. Word around the clubhouse is if Detroit sputters in the early going, Villa could be peddled for a pitching prospect. And to the people of Detroit that would only give more reasons to question the ability of Feamster to bring a title back to Motor City.

Montreal Maroon Season 29 Preview

Season 28 saw the Maroons finish below .500 for the first time in 20 seasons.  Unhappy with this result, management busied themselves this off season with improving the ML on-field product in mind.  It was abundantly clear that the main shortcoming of the roster last season was that besides MVP Juan Valenzuela and LF Ernie Jenkins, there was not much by way of hitting.

Since there isn't much help coming up from the farm, management decided that it was time to add a boost to the lineup via free agency.  With there being a huge crop of high end talent available, the Maroons decided to target a few of the lesser lights in hopes of securing some decent talent without being caught up by any bidding wars.  The gambit paid off, as the team signed 3 type A free agents to reasonably priced, short term contracts.  The first to sign was former first overall pick Scott McGowan, to man 3rd base.  Next up was Toronto's Santo Figureoa, who will play RF.   Edgardo Johnson should bolster the back end of the rotation for the franchise that originally signed him as an IFA.

Management did not sit on their hands for long, as it was soon announced that the team had pulled off a blockbuster trade that would bring a great deal more hitting ability to the team without taking anything away from the current roster.  By trading Andres Veras, Willie Pena and Willie Miranda for Juan Polanco, Albie Nieto, and Yonder Trevino, they add hitting and fielding in exchange for pitching and youth. Both teams came out of the deal happy, but history will tell which one came out ahead in the end.

This team added a pretty decent amount of talent to the ML level this off-season.  It says here that they added enough to earn the 10 more wins necessary to fetch a wildcard spot.  We predict that, barring any catastrophic injury troubles, this team should battle it out with Philadelphia all season for the division title, but will ultimately fall short by one or two games.

Prediction:

- 90-72, 2nd in NL North, 2nd wildcard spot, loss in the first or second round of playoffs.

Season 29 preview of The Cincinnati Red Army

by Reginald Van der Sloot
of the Cincinnati Free Press

It was a busy off season for Red Army GM Douche LaRouche. Cincinnati ownership put pressure on the 31 year old Canadian executive to "Cut Salary, and invest in Starting Pitching"

LaRouche followed those orders by shipping out long time reliever Jin Ho Sano to the only other Franchise that Sano had personal ties to, the Ottawa Hosers. The Hosers are the team that signed the native of Yokosuka Japan at the tender age of 18 in Season 18 for $13.9 million. Sano is poised to be a key member of Ottawa's 3-man closer by committee, his career 1.23 WHIP and 3.87 ERA are a welcome addition to the Hosers.

Also taking up residence near the Rideau Canal and robot/Prime Minister Stephen Harper are switch hitters Jean Berkman and MVP candidate Steven Soriano. Red Army defence may struggle in season 29 as both Berkman and Soriano each won the Gold Glove last season at their respective positions. Berkman's defence is slick enough in the eyes of the Ottawa coaching staff that he is pencilled in as the starting 3B for at least the beginning of season 29. Soriano is moving back to 2B -the position that he played from his being incepted into the big leagues until his acquisition by The Red Army- and is slotted in as the number 2 hitter in a very potent Hoser line-up.

LaRouche is "Saddened to have been forced to trade to 2 young stars and a long-term member of the team in Sano but I'm excited to welcome Juan Polanco and Vic Miranda"

Miranda has a wonderful bat from the left side of the plate with the ability to be a thorn in the side of both lefties and righties. He has ample power, and good plate vision. Unfortunately Vic's defensive abilities come up a little short, even for a 1B. He does however have youth on his side and one of the best fielding coaches in Eric Long. Those two factors should work in his favour and as a result we might see some improvement there.

Polanco is one of the most coveted young position players in both leagues. The Cincinnati fans were given another large trade to dissect just days later when in typical Rd Army style, Polanco was immediately shipped out of town,in this case back to Canada. Montreal is where he ended up where young Jaun was packaged with super-sub Albie Nieto and long-time Red Army Starter Yonder Trevino. Like Sano, Trevino is going back to the team that signed him as an IFA way back in season 15 as an 18 year to a $15.1 million signing bonus. Trevino's 148 career wins, 22 complete games, 3.56 ERA and 1.23 WHIP suggest that he was well worth the initial investment. The Maroons are hoping that he is still worth the $7 million dollars left on this, his last year of a 5 year deal.

LaRouche has publicly stated that he dealt Trevino because there was no chance of being able to re-sign the 4 time All Star before he hit Free Agency. It is not because of the disappointing game 7 NLCS performance last season versus Mexico City "Actually I love the guy, my Wife and I named are most recent addition to our family Trevino... our bright red beta-fighting fish. I wanted him to retire a Red Army. He expressed his desire to win a world Series but to not re-negotiate his contract before Free Agency. He'd rather play out this contract and I respect that decision. I felt that with Spike Parris becoming a Free Agent the following season and the price that good SPs are going for in Free Agency, that it was essential for the competitiveness of the Red Army that we bring in some young and controllable arms.

Trevino, Nieto and Polanco were the price that Montreal set in order to bring in 2 very good SPs in Veras and Willie Pena. "We also received Willie Miranda in the deal, and we feel that once he develops fully that he will be an adequate replacement for Berkman in RF"

Veras, one of the top IFA signings of season 26 ($23.7 million bonus) projects to be a very nice number 2 or 3 once he gets promoted from AAA and has the ability to throw close to 300 innings per season. Willie Pena will fight it out with Parris and Veras for the 2-3-4 job. It appears that these 3 will be surrounded by Viciedo as the number 1 and Harold Leach as the number 5.

The unloading of salary by Douche LaRouche allowed Cinci to go out and sign veteran back stops Jesse Newson and Carlos Cervantes to back-up season 27 batting champ Zephyr Miles. Newson and Cervantes might play a little bit of RF this upcoming season and should provide some nice pinch-hitting this season. The Red Army used some of their freed-up cash to re-sign FA Ralph Lambert. Lambert is entering the twilight of his career and it is believed by the Vodka soaked Red Army scouts that a similar performance to last season's 1.18 WHIP and .217 OAV is certainly not out of the question. Lambert will be joined by Miguel Neruda in the pen. The Type A free agent relief pitcher was signed to a 1 year $4.6 million dollar deal.

LaRouche has admitted that he was chasing FA Starters Ciriaco and Padilla between the mega deals with the Hosers and Maroons. "Unfortunately the price got to be too high for our comfort. More unsettling to us was the length of the deals that the agents were demanding. Ultimately I convinced ownership to allow me to make a maximum-deal offer to Fernando Rosado and we luckily won the sweepstakes. We are ecstatic to have Fernando with us and we hope that he can add to his career total of 7 MVPs.

During the short news conference days after signing the 4 year $70 million deal with a 5th year mutual option of $20 million and a $5 million buy-out. Fernando Rosado stated "that he loved his time in Toronto, that the recent ALCS defeat was shocking and devistating. I would trade my personal accomplishments for a World Series Championship... or two or three"

Cincinnati may have overpaid for the now tremendously wealthy 31 year-old Dominican as his overall abilities will most surely be in decline over the net 4-5 seasons. There is no question though that the acquisition of Rosado is what allowed LaRouche to deal Polanco and Nieto and thus improve their pitching. Overall, Cincinnati has lost some depth in the field, and versatility at the plate but their overall pitching depth has gotten stronger and what looked like a 5 year window of competitiveness may have been lengthened by another few seasons with the addition of the 3 very good pre-arbitration eligible players.

The Red Army will be in a dog fight to make the playoffs this season due in large part to the division that they play in and not their own possible in-abilities. The NL North is arguably the toughest division in the World. It is home to the crazy good Dangerous Crew, the always extremely competitive/often dominating Spartan Franchise. Then there is the young and always improving cross-State rivals in Cleveland, the Bad Seeds.

The bookies in Vegas are leaning toward making Cincinnati the odds on favourite to win the division by no more than 2 games, with the last place team in the division finishing a mere 6 games out of first.

The offence is going to be relatively consistant in the match-box that is Great America Ballpark. Despite the hitters, it would not be out of the realm of possibility to witness The Red Army on the sidelines come October for the first time since season 22, especially if they run into injury trouble or the pitching is erratic.

Huntington Preview

The Huntington franchise has spent the majority of the last 29 seasons in the gutter. When I took over the reigns to start in season 28 the franchise had very little to attract a good owner. I took it as a challenge to prove to myself that I can win with any team.

It was quite a task and worse then I initially thought. Coming into it I thought hey a team with Mel Darr, Maicer Calles and Stu Burke cant be to hard to win with. Then I found out Darr was not resigned. SO I had my work cut out for me. Well I used smoke and mirrors and somehow made the playoffs and almost pulled off the huge upset to make the LCS.

Now its season 29. The team is still not as good as I want but in far better shape ( no more bad contracts). I have no one young or great to work with but I have some decent pieces and should be on pace for the same type of season as last season. This franchise will hopefully no longer be thought of as an easy win at least as long as im at the helm. I would expect another 90 win season and with some luck a playoff appearance.

The Show Comes to Wichita

Not sure if you all noticed the construction going on south of the city. You know the one I'm talking about, the huge stadium they've been building for the last 18 months. Well it's finally done and our new Yaz team, the Tomcats, will be residing there this year.
The T'Cats finished in last place in the AL South with a 67-95 record last year. They scored only 690 runs on the season (second lowest in the AL) and gave up 874 (5th most). I haven't seen anyone "in the know" who has projected them over 70 wins this year. So when I drew the assignment to cover them the word that went through my head was not the type of thing my editors would let me print here, but in watching them this spring they may just have turned things in the right direction. They have 5 new faces in this years opening day lineup vs last years. The ball was jumping off their bats this spring, both the big leaguers and the minor leaguers were "crushing" it. They lead all Yaz teams in runs scored (117), Hits (200), BA (.302), OBP (.372), and OPS (.883) while finishing second in 2B (35), HR (34) and SLG (.511). Now I know the list of people who have been let down after getting excited over a big spring training is long, but if nothing else, it points to the fact that they should do much better than their 15th best in scoring last season and with the pitching staff slightly improved and the defense going slightly in the other direction their runs allowed should be near the same. So allowing the same number of runs and scoring more should work out to more wins, and even if it doesn't, it sure is fun to watch the ball fly over the outfield fence.
So let's all get the family together, head down to the corner to catch one of the 20 team buses that run every game day (the ride is free if you have tickets and comes off the price of the tickets if you buy at the stadium) and enjoy a nice summer day supporting our new team, the Wichita Tomcats. Win or lose it should be a fun team to watch, and who knows, we may just surprise some of those "experts".