Las Vegas Runnin Rebels
Who's In: C Archie Painter (1 yr. $675K), CF Phil Browne (trade with Trenton), SP Del Taylor (trade with Los Angeles)
Who's Out: 2B Peter Tanaka (traded to St. Louis), SP Max Olivares (released), SS Mo Newman (released), 2B Rich Clarke (left via FA), LF Shigetoshi Chiba (left via FA), David Fernandez (left via FA), C Edgar DeLeon (left via FA), C Denny Kim (left via FA)
Capsule: The World Champions look to defend their second championship with a similar formula to last season but with some new faces. The strong point of this team revolves around pitching, both starting and relieving. The biggest addition to Las Vegas is $20 million dollar man Del Taylor. If he can stay healthy after recovering from major surgery, he provides a huge addition to an already solid starting pitching core. He does come with some risk though; he is 35 this year coming off a labrum tear. Also coming aboard is the excellent defensive CF Phil Browne, he will be counted upon to shore up the middle of the outfield. Manager Paulbiss6 also gambled in trading Peter Tanaka at his prime and replacing him with 2 rookies, David Granados and John Tracy. How well these rookies transition to the majors will go a long way determining how well the offense does.
Boise Spuds
Who’s In: Pitchers Elston Freel(FA) and Ken Ransom(Rule 5). RF Henry Sierra(FA) and CF Juan Arias(Rule 5)
Who’s Out: Pitchers Larry Incaviglia, Bobby Collins, Norm Cloud, Woddie Kirby, Alex Merced. 3B Matty Molina.
After winning 90 games or more 4 straight season Boise fell to a low of 63 wins last year. The team will rely on the hitting as the team is weak in pitching. The best pitchers this team has are 20 and 21 years old so it is doubtful they will be in the majors this year. Youth needs to improve including Davey Cornejo and Jose Ortiz. Tomas James will continue to improve and he will be the cleanup hitter. Felix Park and newcomer Elston Freel are expected to deliver excellent pitching. Freels age is a concern and the bullpen and starters 4 and 5 are a bit unsettled.
Jacksonville Manatees
Who's in: 3B Wendall Crede(Free Agent), RP Luis Pujols(Free Agent) and RP Leon Pritchett.
Who's Out: 3B Wayne Healey, RP R.A. Charles, RP Ivan Van Hekken, C Alton Counsell.
Jacksonville looks to go for their 4th straight NL South Title. This team will depend on key hitting from 2B Josh Linden, RF Glen Atkins and new comer 3B Wendall Crede. This team will rely on the play of young players like CF Brutus Kelly, SS Sean Larson and C Marino Cortazar. Strong starting pitching, lead by a solid 1-2 punch with Blake Crawford and Jeffrey Ponson. Added to the bullpen to fix it's biggest weakness the past few season's, lead by one of the games best closers in Andres Romero.
Tucson Trolls
Who’s in: 3B/UTIL B.C. Patterson (FA), RP Stan Howell (minors promotion), RP Rob Moseley (minors promotion), RP Nipolito Nieves (FA), SP Woodie Kirby (FA)
Who’s out: RP Aurelio Pineda (FA), RP Lance Moeller (FA), RP Neifi Dunham (FA), SP Elston Freel (FA), SS Bernard Jones (FA)
Capsule: The Trolls hope to build on last year’s season, in which the club won 98 games and advanced to the 2nd round of the playoffs. The team plays in arguably the league’s toughest division, the AL West, where all 4 teams finished with a record over .500. The Trolls had a relatively quiet off-season since 11 of their players on last year’s squad were rookies. The biggest changes are in the bullpen, where the club brought in a few new faces from free agency and their farm system.
The offense is led by veteran DH Footsie Lee (48 HR, 130 RBI), 3rd year player RF Tris Erdos (40 HR, 106 RBI), and 2nd year first baseman Matt Thurman (37 HR, .307 avg.). Omar Castro is making the transition from CF to SS to fill the departure of Bernard Jones.
The pitching staff is below average and relies too heavily on run support. Key returners include SP Jorge Cedeno, who went 9-2, and 14 game winner Jamie Conway. Tito Tanaka must be steady out of the bullpen for this team to have a chance at another playoff run.
Seattle Rainiers
Whos in: Lou James P David Fernandez P Batolo Trevino P
Robin Reese P Max Olivares P Alex Keefe C Louis Cook 3rd
Whos out: Josh Oneill P Leon Berger P Quinn Matthews P
Eric Wilkerson P Wilt Martin C
The Seattle Rainiers in arguably the toughest division opened up their wallets after finishing in last the previous season. Pitchers Batolo Trevino and Max Olivares will compete for the final two starting spots behind cy young winner Jeff Macdougal Geraldo Ugueto and Red Marshall. Alex Keefe Robin Reese David Fernandez and Lou James were brought in to solidify a shaky bullpen. The promotion of Wally Houston will improve the up the middle defense. And the signing of reigning mvp Louis Cook are sending whispers of a return to the playoffs throughout Seattle.
Scranton Schrutes
Whos in: P Norm Cloud
Whos out: SS Omar Santos, SP Jorge Gomez
The Scranton Schrutes were pushed over .500 ball and into the playoffs last year by the strength of Lou Deshields. He made the SP2 Bart Nickle a 17 game winner and Frank Lo a 13 game winner. The 4th and 5th starters struggled all year until the Schrutes traded away some prospects for SP Harold Simms and SP Miller Middlebrook. Also, the Schrutes have a talented bullpen with 2 frontline closers, Cesar Solano and Norm Davis. Rumor has it that Solano is on the trade block. The Schrutes have 2 OF in AAA vying for an open position in LF, Rodrigo Taveras and PT Bush. We will see. Management would prefer to keep Taveras in AAA for another year and Bush to at least start in AAA but time will tell. Trenton is the time to beat in the division. Hopefully with Cook leaving Trenton will take a hit.
Pittsburgh Steel Works
Message: New: Alex Peterson (SP, Rule 5), Juan DeLeon (RP, Rule 5), Ozzie Frazier (C, Waiver Claim).
Call-Ups: Randy Power (SP), Tito Kieschnick (SP), Christopher Reid (RP), Rico Rivera (RP), Vicente Guerrero (CF), Sammy Acevedo (2B), Darron Corder (1B), Bart Holmes (DH).
Returning Starters: Josh Thomas (LF), Jim May (SS), Victor Vizcaino (3B), Mitchell Burnitz (SP), Pat McDonald (SP).
Capsule: A very young team with low expectations, the main hope for this team is a ROTY award after a dismal 52 wins last season. A move from heatstroke-inducing Puerto Rico to Pittsburgh and a new owner will hopefully allow this village bicycle of a franchise to settle down. Many questions remain, as the owner is as inexperienced as his players.
Trenton Thunder
Message: Who's In: The Thunder made no off-season acquisitions, instead choosing to promote a few stud prospects to add to their already intimidating roster. Wilson Brinkley will take over CF duties, Jumbo Soto will man the hot corner and Augie Huson will take a spot at the back of the rotation.
Who's Out: The Thunder lost two of the best players in the league during a very tough off-season. Reigning MVP Louis Cook and perennial Cy Young candidate Miguel Lopez both left via free agency, while starting CF Phil Browne was traded to Las Vegas to make room for Brinkley.
Capsule: The past two seasons have ended in bitter disappointment for the Thunder. In fact, some are comparing them to the Atlanta Braves of MLB in that they've won more than 100 games and their division title in each of the past four seasons, with only 1 WS championship to show for it. For some organizations, this would be enough, but not for Trenton. So, with the losses of Cook, Lopez and Browne, they're now counting on a few rookies to bring the WS trophy back to Trenton. And, let's not forget who's still in the stacked Trenton lineup, namely stud 2B Leon Holden (.310, 57 HRs, 119 RBIs), powerful SS Andres Delgado (.270, 49, 116), and slugging 1B Raymond Bowles (.295, 37, 115). And on the mound, the Thunder are still bringing heat with a top 3 that includes the reigning Cy Young Patsy Linden (21-5, 2.39), Ty Penny (20-7, 3.14) and Miguel Infante (17-7, 3.72). So, despite a rough off-season, the Thunder are still in the driver's seat in the NL East and should win their division for a record fifth consecutive year.
Philadelphia Continentals
Who’s In: SP Miguel Lopez (FA), C Stephen Wright (FA), SP Ted Shuey (AAA)
Who’s Out: SP Ben Rice (AAA), SP Andres Gonzalez (AAA), C Ron Olson (released)
Capsule: The rebuilding process that began when the team moved to Philadelphia in Season 2 started to bear some fruit last year. During that time, the Continentals have evolved from a 103 loss laughingstock to last year’s 85 win squad that was in the thick of the Wild Card chase until the last week of the season. Their main handicap last year was a very top-heavy rotation that featured ace Micah Regan and lefty workhorse Alex Morales backed by a This was partially improved at the trade deadline with the acquisition of veteran RHP Don Canseco. That top three will be supported this year by aging, but still effective free agent Miguel Lopez and LHP Ted Shuey who was the third overall pick in the Season 3 draft. A strong bullpen anchored by closer Tony Diaz and RHP Al Rosado should continue to be a strength in Season 6. The offense remains essentially the same as last year. The heart of the line-up continues to be slugging LF Barney Edwards, on base machine RF Chris Rapp and slugging 3B Placido Sanchez. Philly is counting on a leap forward from top prospect 2B Alex Boyd who struggled as a rookie last year and 1B Ruben Acevedo who seemed to find his major league stroke in the second half. Durability issues will force a platoon at catcher where free agent acquisition C Stephen Wright will complement lefty mashing defensive star Hector Bonilla. The Continentals are aiming for a first ever playoff appearance and should be a strong contender for the NL Wild Card.
Toronto Blue Jays
Key Additions: Vinny Mateo (Trade), Glendon Eaton (Trade), B.C. Bolivar (Trade), Michael Jang (FA), Clem Hawkins (FA)
Key Losses: Chris Perez (Buyout) Clayton Sutton (Trade), Greg Ward (FA)
The Jays have been busy as they have re-vamped their rotation at the cost of losing Clayton Sutton to Tacoma. The pitching will once again be led by 19 game winner Wascar Picasso. He will be followed up with some unknown quantities in Alex Dominguez, Mateo, Eaton and Damaso Delgado. Bolivar was acquired to prepare for the closing role that will be empty with the departure of ageless wonder, Devon Stargell at the end of the season. The offense will once again be led by the best catcher in baseball, Trent Daniels who just signed a long term deal in the off season. His partner behind the plate will once again be Mike Daniels who had another productive season for the Jays. The strength of the infield will be lead by 2 time all star Theodore Franco at 2nd and Craig Kydd will finally get his chance at short with the departure of Sutton. The outfield seems a little suspect but the addition of Jang should help. Will the Jays be better? Maybe if the young guys in the rotation come around and guys like M. Daniels and Juan Duran have anything left in the bat.
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