Monday, December 15, 2008

NL POWER RANKINGS WEEK 7

1. New York Burros
Last Week: 1
Record: 91-41 (14-6)
Expected Win %: .688
Skinny: 10 season of 90+ wins shows the dominance of this team in the NL. Should rack in their 8th straight 100+ win season as well this year.

2. Burlington Ballbusters-
Last Week: 4
Record: 82-50 (14-6)
Expected Win %: .629
The Skinny: Victor Vega and Chris Sears have to be one of the best 1-2 punch middle relief corps in the National league. Vega has 1.80 ERA, Sears checks in with a 1.38 ERA.

3. Cincinnati Bowties -
Last Week: 5
Record: 80-52 (12-8)
Expected Win %: .621
The Skinny: Brent Sheets has set career highs for RBI, HR, Runs, and BAVG so far. He is set the single season Cincinnati record for HR’s and should get both RBI and runs this season as well.

4. San Diego Surf -
Last Week: 2
Record: 79-53 (9-11)
Expected Win %: .595
The Skinny: 16-20 in 1 run games illustrates the teams whoa with late inning hitting and pitching. Missing component for this team’s success might be clutch hitting and pitching.

5. Texas Outlaws-
Last Week: 3
Record: 80-52 (10-10)
Expected Win %: .565
The Skinny: Friday at the park is Hawk Powell Day. Every fan under 12 gets a commemorative Hawk Powell Bat. (Hawk is top 100 in almost all statistical categories)

6. Cheyenne Marmots-
Last Week: 6
Records: 72-53 (9-11)
Expected Win %: .595
the Skinny: MARMOTS INTENTIONALLY WALK NO ONE!

7. Atlanta Braves-
Last Week: 8
Record: 73-59 (11-9)
Expected Win %: .533
THE SKINNY: SP Jack Sanders’s days became numbered as his ERA soared over 6 and his walk total nearly equaled his strike out total. See you next season maybe.

8. Colorado Springs Organizational Filler-
Last Week: 7
Record: 69-63 (8-12)
Expected Win %: .584
The Skinny: SP/LR Alan Palmer has been a complete bust so far for Colorado Springs. With 2 years and over 10M still on his contract he is going to be difficult to move with his career numbers.

9. Richmond Revolution-
Last Week: 10
Record: 65-67 (11-9)
Expected Win %: .511
The Skinny: could finish the season with 2 30/30 guys Alfonso Julio and Theo Smyth.

10. Philadelphia Balboas-
Last Week: 9
Record: 57-55 (11-9)
Expected Win %: .563
The Skinny: 3 players with over 30 home runs and no one with more than 90 rbi. Very telling

11. Florida Marlins -
Last Week: 12
Record: 60-72 (11-9)
Expected Win %: .450
The Skinny: They have drawn the least walks in Major League Baseball history. The top guy here has 34 walks so far this season.

12. Houston Labs -
Last Week: 11
Record: 55-77 (9-11)
Expected Win %: .466
The Skinny: Team is running on low batteries and their sluggish performance is shining through. Many key players are playing tired and need to rest so get back into ideal playing situations.

13. Milwaukee Blues -
Last Week: 14
Record: 49-83 (9-11)
Expected Win %: .366
The Skinny: The fastest guy on the team Arthur Worthington has only 6 stolen bases. Might be time to give him the go light a little more.

14. Rochester Raging Reverends-
Last Week: 13
Record: 46-86 (7-13)
Expected Win %: .402
The Skinny: Rochester’s 24 quality starts are almost a ¼ of league leader New York.15.

Minnesota Maulers
Last Week: 15
Record: 43-89 (7-13)
Expected Win %: .326
The Skinny: if everyone else looses all their games they sneak into the playoffs. Okay they are playing for next year.

16. OMAHA MILE HIGH CLUB -
Last Week: 16
Record: 36-96 (8-12)
Expected Win %: .238
The Skinny: 1st team statistically eliminated from the Playoffs in S10

Monday, December 8, 2008

NL POWER RANKINGS WEEK 6

1. New York Burros
Last Week: 1
Record: 77-35 (13-6)
Expected Win %: .678
Skinny: Bob Mann's 3rd season seems to be his charm. He is on his way to 20 wins with a sub 3 ERA. And he is still not arbitration eligible.

2. San Diego Surf -
Last Week: 2
Record: 70-42 (11-8)
Expected Win %: .610
The Skinny: Overlooked for 6 seasons in the Minors, including by my team. Seop Wan could be the NL Rookie of the Year. He's 6th in the league in run (86) and 3rd in SB (44) and is batting .306

3. Texas Outlaws-
Last Week: 3
Record: 70-42 (11-8)
Expected Win %: .581
The Skinny: after a successful 4 year stint in San Diego, Clay Etherton seems to have lost his way. First in Anaheim and now in Texas. Texas needs him to regain his throw if they want to compete.
4. Burlington Ballbusters-
Last Week: 5
Record: 68-44 (11-8)
Expected Win %: .619
The Skinny: talk about a turnaround they are only 2 games from last season's win total (70) With 50 games to go I bet they make it.

5. Cincinnati Bowties -
Last Week: 4
Record: 68-44 (12-7)
Expected Win %: .614
The Skinny: top 2 strikeout guys in the NL pitch here with Alex Wang and Clarence Patrick with 10 SO leads over the next closest pitcher.

6. Cheyenne Marmots-
Last Week: 7
Record: 63-49 (13-6)
Expected Win %: .531
The Skinny: 1 more stolen base and Chris Durbin has 100 for the season. This is 3rd straight 100 SB season. That would be some kind of record for Ryan.

7. Colorado Springs Organizational Filler-
Last Week: 6
Record: 61-51 (12-7)
Expected Win %: .584
The Skinny: his record doesn't show it but Hi Telgheder is pitching well enough to lead the league is many categories. He is also Arbitration Eligible; he is going to get expensive soon.

8. Atlanta Braves-
Last Week: 9
Record: 62-50 (10-9)
Expected Win %: .524
THE SKINNY: Eugene Walker is one huge reason this team continues to hang in there. His skills are not that of a SS, but as a dominant 3B though.

9. Philadelphia Balboas-
Last Week: 8
Record: 57-55 (9-10)
Expected Win %: .564
The Skinny: RP Orlando Martinez has pitched for 5 seasons has never started and has never thrown less than 100 innings. Pretty impressive reliever.

10. Richmond Revolution-
Last Week: 10
Record: 54-58 (12-7)
Expected Win %: .506
The Skinny: you know you have a good lineup when you can have power hitting DH Aaron Stone sit on your bench with 2 years left on a 3 year deal.

11. Houston Labs -
Last Week: 12
Record: 46-66 (8-11)
Expected Win %: .479
The Skinny: Calvin Coco has been unreal this season. As a rookie he is 7-3 with a 2.10 ERA on a team that is 20 games under .500. Pretty impressive.

12. Florida Marlins -
Last Week: 11
Record: 49-63 (7-12)
Expected Win %: .441
The Skinny: Chili Down's 11 negative plays lead the NL. More impressive is that he has done this in only 42 games. Note to Florida he might not be ready for 2B yet.

13. Rochester Raging Reverends-
Last Week: 15
Record: 39-73 (8-11)
Expected Win %: .402
The Skinny: David Bennett seems to have finally gotten use to the big city of Rochester. His batting average, HR, and RBI's are all up this season to close to career highs. He's still not a guy you want to build a team around.

14. Milwaukee Blues -
Last Week: 13
Record: 40-72 (7-12)
Expected Win %: .367
The Skinny: they need to go 32-18 to match last year's record. I don't see it happening.

15. Minnesota Maulers
Last Week: 14
Record: 36-76 (5-14)
Expected Win %: .310
The Skinny: The trade that brought them, William Stewart should be a good one, but right now Stewart is struggling at the plate batting 50 points lower and is being caught way more frequently when stealing.

16. OMAHA MILE HIGH CLUB -
Last Week: 16
Record: 28-84 (5-14)
Expected Win %: .242
The Skinny: they need to go 35-15 to avoid their 1st 100 loss season.

Monday, December 1, 2008

NL Power Rankings Week 5

1. New York Burros
Last Week: 1
Record: 64-29 (12-6)
Expected Win %: .685
Skinny: okay National Leaguet this is your chance. The Burros are down their Ace and anouther starter. Time to knock this team down a peg. Diaz and Ortiz are going to be a big downgrade. on the other side Bob mann is an incredible 9-1 at home with a 1.94 ERA

2. San Diego Surf -
Last Week: 3
Record: 59-34 (13-5)
Expected Win %: .626
The Skinny: their 40 triples are almost twice as many as the next closest NL team.

3. Texas Outlaws-
Last Week: 2
Record: 59-34 (11-7)
Expected Win %: .566
The Skinny: Talk about an aggressive run team. Texas not only leads the league in stolen bases but has been caught stealling more times than 5 NL teams have stolen bases this season.

4. Cincinnati Bowties -
Last Week: 5
Record: 56-37 (14-4)
Expected Win %: .618
The Skinny: extended their divisional lead to 10 games with a 8 game win streak and huge wins aginst their divison mates.

5. Burlington Ballbusters-
Last Week: 4
Record: 57-36 (11-7)
Expected Win %: .610
The Skinny: As a team Burlington Pitchers are giving up an average of less than 1 hit an inning. Pitching is carrying this team. The QUestion is how long will those old arm hold up.

6. Colorado Springs Organizational Filler-
Last Week: 7
Record: 49-44 (9-9)
Expected Win %: .570
The Skinny: Top power team in the NL has been struggling for 3 weeks now. They climb on spot only as a result of Atlanta's tough week. Other than Hi Telgheder someone needs to take the rock each week and show something consistantly, if this team expects to make the playoffs.

7. Cheyenne Marmots-
Last Week: 8
Record: 50-43 (11-7)
Expected Win %: .512
The Skinny: I still have not bought into Cheyenne, but each week they compete against teams I like better and each week they come out on top. Durbin is having a career year and could be MVP of the NL as he has had to carry this team while teammate Adrian Cassidy struggles to find his stroke.

8. Philadelphia Balboas-
Last Week: 9
Record: 48-45 (11-7)
Expected Win %: .579
The Skinny: should have no trouble staying above .500 the rest of the way. The Balboas' Reliver Babe Rose is a sparkling road warrior allowing a .204 BA on the road with a 1.85 era.

9. Atlanta Braves-
Last Week: 6
Record: 52-41 (8-10)
Expected Win %: .524
THE SKINNY: followed their best week, with one of their worst. Atlanta still has one of the best Bullpens in the NL allowing a league low 20 inherited runners to score out of 79.


10. Richmond Revolution-
Last Week: 10
Record: 42-51 (4-14)
Expected Win %: .489
The Skinny: as predicted I cursed them as they went through their toughest week of the season and knoicked their expected Win percentage under .500 for the 1st time all season. interesting note Louis Medina is 7-1 on the road with a 2.17 era, at home he's 1-7 with a 8.74 era. My guess is he's not a fan favorite.

11. Florida Marlins -
Last Week: 11
Record: 42-51 (6-12)
Expected Win %: .444
The Skinny: Another week another all-star is gone. Stan "the Man" mason packs his bags and heads to the AL. Florida is stocking its minors well for next time, but can we finally say they have given up on S10? Probably not.


12. Houston Labs -
Last Week: 12
Record: 38-55 (10-8)
Expected Win %: .507
The Skinny: Last weeks record is probably closer to how this team should be performing. With a long road ahead the team seems to be buckling down in hopes to overtake a wild card spot. As evident by the trade to get SS Preston Ward (7M) and Rod Sierra (6.9M)

13. Milwaukee Blues -
Last Week: 14
Record: 33-50 (8-10)
Expected Win %: .373
The Skinny: Milwaukee just needs 1 or 2 pitchers to step up and take control of a game. They have had no gamebreakers this season and as a result must be disappointed.

14. Minnesota Maulers
Last Week: 15
Record: 31-62 (7-11)
Expected Win %: .296
The Skinny: its hard to fathom that this team was in a playoff hunt at this time last season.

15. Rochester Raging Reverends-
Last Week: 13
Record: 31-62 (3-15)
Expected Win %: .296
The Skinny: Wheels have come off and frustration is setting in maybe. The Team has already sent top home run and RBI guy Fausto Guzman and his 5M salary to AAA to die.


16. OMAHA MILE HIGH CLUB -
Last Week: 16
Record: 23-70 (4-14)
Expected Win %: .244
The Skinny: leads the league in both runs allowed and in least runs scored as a team.