AL NORTH S12 Preview

AL NORTH

Fargo Favola's PAYROLL 24.6M
LAST YEARS RECORD: 69-93
KEY ML TRANSACTIONS:

ADDED				SUBTRACTED
NAME	POS	AGE		NAME	POS	AGE
				Tony Kelly	DH	34
				Tito Ramsay	SP	29
				Kenneth Gutierrez	CF	31

Opening Day Lineup
C Alan Beckwith (R)

1B Albert Oquist (R)
2B Ralph Lee (R)
3B Turk Thornton (S)
SS Kevin Hatcher (R)
LF Albert Mesa (R)
CF Benji Adkins (L)
RF Bill Stephenson (R)
DH Max Ibarra (R)
Starting Pitching: Clarence Witt, Thomas Lewis, Ray Piersoll, Marty Hooper, Hank Brow
Closer: Artie Luebbers
SUMMARY: Pitching is the key to the success in Fargo and they are lacking in that department. Young Phenoms Hooper and Luebbers are buried beneath the glutten of mediocre or below pitching. Overall the Lineup is strong with the exception of the outfield which badly needs an upgrade.
HOLES TO ADDRESS: Pitching pitching and more pitching get a quality cheap LF and the team will add 5-10 wins.
VEGAS ODDS: 55-1

Madison Massa's PAYROLL 65.7M
LAST YEARS RECORD: 113-49
KEY ML TRANSACTIONS:

ADDED				SUBTRACTED
NAME	POS	AGE		NAME	POS	AGE
				Andre Thornton	CF	34
				Jim Larkin	SS	29
				Roosevelt Hanson	1B	32
				Vinny Hernandez	SS	31
				Wil Dorsey	C	29

Opening Day Lineup
C Carter Lowe (R)
1B Casey Kaline (L)
2B Alejandro Perez (R)
3B Scott Biddle (S)
SS Bo Nitkowski (R)
LF Marcus Thompson (L)
CF Fritz Lowe (L)
RF Doyle Twitchell (L)
DH Dave Stovall (R)
Starting Pitching: Darwin Power (R) Hal Buchanan (S) Albert Telford (R) David Hernandez (L)
Pablo Javier (R)
Closer: Ellis Watson (L)
SUMMARY: Losing the man of glass would hurt more if he played more than 50% of the games the last 2 seasons. The bgger loss could be Hanson who is the ultimate warrior at 1B and the heart of any batting order. Kaline started his career at 1B and looks to end it there now. Pitching is a challenge in the Bandbox in Madison, but Buchanan did ike out a Cy Young with Powers, Telford and Javier following the roation has spunk. Watson and his setup man McGee can be unhittable at times.
HOLES TO ADDRESS: No True starter at CF and a young outfield might allow for a youth movement but will cost a few wins this year.
VEGAS ODDS: 12-1

NY Bombers PAYROLL 44.5M
LAST YEARS RECORD: 115-47
KEY ML TRANSACTIONS:

ADDED				SUBTRACTED
NAME	POS	AGE		NAME	POS	AGE
Juan Henriquez	1B	29		Moises Tavarez	P	40
Daryle Davis	SP	30		Dennis Robinson	3B	32
				Bill Darwin	1B	36
				David Liang	RF	31
				Trenidad Beltran	1B	36
				Wilson Marshall	SP	33

Opening Day Lineup
C Yorvit Castillo (R)
1B Bartolo Ozuna (L)
2B Carlos Feliz (R)
3B Max Mills (R)
SS Geraldo Tarraga (R)
LF Timothy Dye (R)
CF Jason Tankersley (L)
RF Bill Sheehan (L)
DH Mark Snyder (R)
Starting Pitching: Daryle Davis, Everett Roosevelt, Doug Tobin, Rudy Atchley, Virgil Diaz
Closer: Kyle Laker
SUMMARY: late season trades brought the team Carlos Feliz and pretty much sealed but both the division and the Al championship. This is as complete of a team as possible without a WS ring to show for it. The Starting pitching is intact and although they are a year old and have lost some skill. They should compete very well again this season though. The bullpen lost a number of arms and brought back Kyle Laker to close which was a good move to solidify the back end of the team..
HOLES TO ADDRESS: Dye should move back to the bench and limit his AB's he is a capable utility player but I'm not so sure he's a guy you want in the lineup everyday.
VEGAS ODDS: 6-1

Toledo Holy

LAST YEARS RECORD: 94-68
KEY ML TRANSACTIONS:

ADDED				SUBTRACTED
NAME	POS	AGE		NAME	POS	AGE
Tomas Mateo	SS	29		Homer Pressley	C	37
Tony Jacquez	2B	27		Peter Feng	2B	34
Lee Adkins	LF	29		Al Leskanic	SS	31
Gary Osik	SP	24		Todd Neill	CF	28
Aubrey Kell	SS	30		Artie Hausmann	C	27
Kevin Yamaguchi	SP	27
Tyler Sele	2B	29
D.T. Hutch	SS	28
Paul Bell	RP	31

Opening Day Lineup
C Victor Navarro (L)
1B Tyler Sele (R)
2B Stephen Dreifort (S)
3B D.T. Hutch (R)
SS Aurelio Espada (S)
LF Dmitri Miller (R)
CF Minnie Coleman (R)
RF Aaron Mohr (L)
DH Fernando Nunez (R)
Starting Pitching: Jimmie Eusebio, Calvin Coco, Angel Duran, Gary Osik,
Kevin Yamaguchi
Closer: Joel Byrne
SUMMARY: an ever evolving lineup. The offense has strengths with SS Espada and 3B Coleman. Any Rotation that features 3 top starts should have a successful club, but on this team no one holds their job for long. Toledo is the revolving door of the league sI'm sure tomorrow this will be a different story. Last year they were the surprise AL team with 94 wins not sure if they can match that this year. .
HOLES TO ADDRESS: The team is in such a state of flux it's hard to tell where they are going at times, strengthening the bullpen and adding a true CF would be a start
VEGAS ODDS: 35-1